


YOUR LINK IS...

by freds-keep (attackatosh)



Category: MCSM, Minecraft (Video Game), Minecraft Story Mode, Minecraft: Story Mode - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 26,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23708776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/attackatosh/pseuds/freds-keep
Summary: Hell hath no fury like an Admin scorned.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	1. Into the Dark

_YOUR LINK IS FOUND._

This was a bad situation to be in, Jess thought as their sword poofed into nothing. They took a step back, raising their arm up in self-defense, black hair swaying behind them as they moved, dodging the zombies flailing attacks.

"Lousy stupid goddamn--!" Their yell echoed through the mine, Jess tripping, falling on their rear as the zombies closed in. Before they could even flinch, they found themself covered in rancid goo and rotting flesh, three zombie heads neatly on the ground. "--swords..."

_Shink._ They looked up to see Petra, mint eyes sparkling in the dim light as she held out her hand. They both recoiled as their hands connected, Petra pulling Jess to their feet. “Maybe don’t use stone next time?” She said, rolling her eyes as Jess playfully slugged her shoulder, smearing more of the zombie juice onto Petra, who half-gagged.

“Yeah, like you’re one to talk.” Jess retorted snarkily, pointing out Petra’s sword. She rolled her eyes, shrugging. “What, no defense to my perfect case?”

“Your Honor, the mayor doth protest too much.” Petra snorted, waving a hand as Jess glared, stomping their foot.

“I’m not a mayor!” They folded their arms, face scrunching. “I’m a _hero in residence_! There’s a big difference.”

“Whatever! Where’s the others?” Petra put a hand on her chin, closing her eyes. “Last I checked, it was gonna be all of us - yet I only see you?”

“Axel and Olivia had their things - Something about an explosion rally in Boomtown and a big dance in Redstonia…” Jess waved their arms pathetically. “And y’know… Lukas with that book…” They sighed. “Man, I miss them.”

“...Same.” Petra shrugged, sighing. “Not our fault they thought that stuff was more important than their friends though.”

“Oh hush! They’ve been growing up just like us, Pets - They don’t have _time_ to squeeze this stuff in anymore.” Jess said. Truthfully, even Jess barely had time anymore - they were caught up in talking with their citizens that they ended up being late. Not that… Petra seemed to mind? If she did, she hadn’t brought it up.

“I wish they did.” She sighed, pulling her sword out and eyeing the edge. “Be fun to have a… well, another adventure with them. It’s been a whole decade now, y’know?” She laughed, pretending to stab the air. “They’d benefit from a chance to hang up the bureaucratic frills and just… _hang out_ like old times.”

“And ditch their citizens?” Jess tilted their head. “They both run whole towns now - cities, even.”

“Hm. Maybe I should start my own city; that’d get them to pay attention huh?” Petra put her sword away, hand meeting her chin in thought as she began to stride down the mines, Jess following her.

“And where would you find the land for it, anyway?” Jess asked. “Everything’s been growing so fast… and you can’t just put it across the way from Beacontown.”

“Well yeah; some bozo already decided Champion City goes there.” Petra rolled her eyes. “I remember how confused you were when you saw the towers going up - ‘oh _wowie_ Petra, what are those _big shiny towers_ across the street?’” She mocked playfully, arms waving around as Jess scoffed.

“I did not say it like that.” They protested, folding their arms as Petra laughed. “Whaaaat?”

“You totally did! Photographic memory, remember?”

“Pets, if your memory is photographic, then you’ve got a _really_ bad camera.” Jess snickered, hand splatting against Petra’s back as the narrow mine opened up into a larger cavern, the two stopping at a ledge. Petra looked down, kneeling and pointing.

“See that?” She knelt, pointing as a vague figure trotted away. “That’s what I wanted you to see.”

“It… looks like just a llama to me.”

“But what’s a _llama_ doing in the _mines_ , Jess?!” Petra haphazardly grabbed Jess’ shoulders, gently shaking them. “Llamas aren’t trained for that! They can’t even wear hats!”

“I mean, obviously we just need to get the llama out ‘cause it’s dangerous for a llama to be in the mines…” Jess mumbled, snickering as Petra realised her friend was still covered in not-quite-dry zombie guts, shaking her hands and gagging with her tongue out. “Oh yeah. Don’t touch me. I’m _definitely_ gonna need a bath after your little performance earlier.”

“Whatever.” Petra mumbled, looking at her hands and sighing. “Let’s grab her-- _it_ \-- and get the heck outta here.”

“Her, huh? You on familiar terms with this llama then, Petra?” Jess asked, the two of them starting to climb down.

“Uh, well… Hm… you _could_ say that, you could _not…_ I would prefer if you didn’t, actually…” She mumbled, feet hitting the ground below. Jess followed not too far behind, turning and pointing as the growl of zombies grew closer.

Petra shrugged, wordlessly turning around and darting into another narrow tunnel. Jess followed her, the two nervously glancing at the spiders that clung to the cave walls.

“We got this!” Petra declared, nervously laughing.

“ _You_ got this! I don’t _‘got’_ a sword!” Jess protested, ducking as a spider fell from the ceiling.

“Punch ‘em!” Petra shrugged. Obviously that was the most sensible advice.

Jess sighed. Was this really their morning routine now? Wake up, talk to their intern, walk down to the Order Hall, talk to the New Order, leave with them (+intern), then remember this excursion with Petra, suddenly their sword breaks because _whoops_ local idiot mayor didn’t bring their one good _iron_ sword, and now is being dragged on a wild llama chase courtesy of Pets. Yep. It’s Founding Day prep alright. They groaned, punching and kicking spiders as they drew near.

They turned around, nodding at the spiders as they turned their head to look ahead. A break in the path - and a nice lava trap for these webby idiots. They jumped, landing seamlessly on the other side as the spiders tumbled helplessly into the searing lava. Petra gasped, pointing down the hall.

“Llama spotted!” she yelled, sprinting ahead.

“Villagers win.” Jess mumbled flatly, picking up their own pace to match Petra’s as the two stumbled into a much larger cave, Jess kicking away three spiders as they tripped, hands feebly gripping at some gravel - which, predictably, crumbled in their hands, nearly allowing the lava behind it to melt their face - had Petra not grabbed them by the collar and dragged them out of the way.

“Not writing your obituary for at least another 40 years, Jess.” Petra snarked as they got up, shaking their head.

“Like you can write to begin with.” They snickered, rolling their eyes as they darted ahead, jumping into a pit. Petra followed not far behind, the two landing in front of a narrow pathway.

Petra jogged ahead wordlessly, Jess sneaking through as they both appeared in another part of the cave, Petra pointing at the llama below them.

“There she is. Her owner’s going to be… _so_ happy to see her.” She groaned, jumping down silently. Jess followed behind.

“You started a… llama retrieval service? I’ve heard weirder, I guess…” Jess rolled their eyes. 

“Well… This is a very… uh… _important_ llama. Veerrry valuable.” Petra sighed. “Look, just help me get her out of here and back to the surface, will you?”

Jess nodded, somewhat begrudgingly. “Yeah, I can help… I guess.” 

The two snuck up on the llama, Petra staying behind as Jess quietly clicked their tongue, getting the llama’s attention… only for it to hoof them in the face, sending them careening back with such force to slam them into the wall, their iron armor poofing into nothing.

“OW! Son of a--” Jess swore loudly, clutching their face as Petra darted ahead, leaping onto the llama’s back. Unsurprisingly, the llama furiously bucked, chucking Petra onto the ground and running off.

“Ow.. ow ow ow ow…” Jess whimpered, Petra snickering as she helped them to their feet. “Ohh… oh that’s gonna leave a mark…”

“Lemme see it.” Petra said softly, moving Jess’ hands away and wincing. “Oh, _yeesh…_ she got you good, dude.”

“Wonderful. Freakin’ wonderful.” Jess mumbled, grumbling as Petra kept batting their hands away from their face. “Come on!!! I’m not a kid!”

“You _also_ have a broken nose, dude.” She lifted their hand up, revealing red on their knuckles, before dropping it and using one of her fingers to show them a more direct example. “You poking at it isn’t going to do you any favours.” She shook her head, wiping her finger on Jess’ shirt.

“Dragon’s Breath, Pets, at least wipe it on my _suspenders_ \- less time I have to spend applying dye to bloodstains the better.” They grumbled, digging their hands in their pockets.

“Oh, trust me, that sweater’s a lost cause.” Petra replied, waving dismissively. “Come on; it’s darker up ahead - I'll make us a couple torches.

They made their way to a crafting table, Petra placing two sticks and two chunks of coal together to make two torches - handing one to Jess in the process as the two entered the darker passageway. Jess’ tongue clicks echoed in the narrow cavern, but failed to attract any rogue llamas.

“You oughta take the lead.” Petra said. “Only fair the _mayor_ takes the lead, yknow?”

“I’m not the mayor!” Jess protested, rolling their eyes. “Leader! Hero in Residence! Genderdimensional Parental Unit!”

“Bureaucrat. Paperwork-doer. Intern-haver.” Petra snickered. “Face it, you’ve transitioned well past ‘Hero in Residence’ right into mayor-town. Or… Mayor- _of_ -town.”

“Wouldn’t that imply the people elected me?” Jess tilted their head. “I don’t think we’ve ever actually had an election. Or passed… laws for that matter. We don’t even have a police force.”

“We still have a power structure held down by 2-5 crusty old heroes; depends who we can pry from their daily lives.”

“We aren’t crusty _or_ old, Petra.”

“Give it a few years.” Petra snickered, shining her torch as the path widened. The llama was perched menacingly on a gravel pillar, glaring at them. “I-- how the hell did she get up there?”

“Don’t know, don’t care. That’s gravel - help me knock her down a peg.” Jess snickered, sticking the torch to one of the stone walls and punching the gravel, knocking it loose and prompting the llama to fall down, Petra catching her as the gravel fully gave way, revealing a massive cavern behind it.

“What the fu--??” Jess muttered, only to get hushed by Petra.

“Don’t fucking swear in front of the llama!” She hissed, peeking into the cavern with Jess. “What in the…?”

Before them, surrounded by the cold stone walls of a seemingly-undiscovered ravine, was a strange pyramid. Sea lanterns made the corners, each edge made of what looked like… cyan sand. But that wasn’t possible. Floating at the top, idle and alone, was a single gauntlet, glowing. 

The two looked at each other, then at the pyramid. The llama bleated cautiously, quietly following the two of them into the cavern. The floor, starting as stone, quickly gave way to a bizarre mix of prismarine and the same cyan sand from before, sea lanterns making a line directly up to the odd gauntlet.

“Almost like it's guiding us to the gauntlet.” Jess muttered as Petra’s eyes widened, head turning towards the gauntlet. “You good?”

“It’s calling my name.” She said, voice going from energetic and bubbly to… somber. Low. Slower than normal.


	2. Anomalous Gauntlet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Petra nearly gets sucked in by the Gauntlet's honeyed words... until Jess saves her.

_VAGUE VOICES._

She took slow, lurching steps towards the pyramid, slowly saying things… she didn’t seem to blink.

_Petra Amber…_

_She who caused it all. She who should have… saved what she nearly destroyed. She who desired adventure, and caused chaos. She who was forced into order… she did not desire._

_She who was… rebellion incarnate._

_Are you not tired of your… troubled life? Are you not… afraid of the truth? You are. You are the catalyst. You are the amplifier._

_They drift because of your reckless abandon._

_They leave because they are simple._

_They who stay… they are fools._

Jess looked around, eyes darting between Petra and the llama. If they stayed with the llama… Something bad might happen to Petra.

It was a split-second decision made at just the right moment.

_The right girl… can change everything. Make the game… her own._

_Change the rules… in her favor._

_She can make her friends… stay… forever._

Jess yelled, sprinting and vaulting over Petra, their hands using her shoulders as a launchpad to jump onto the top of the pyramid, slamming the gauntlet onto their own arm. Petra shook her head, looking down at the llama, then up at Jess - who looked oddly grim in the strange teal lighting. 

" _Unfortunate. This isn't what I had planned._ " Jess' now-hollow voice echoed through the cavern.

"J-Jess?!" Petra called out, voice fearful. "What the hell is going on??”

" _Nothing I can’t fix…!_ " They rumbled, hand shooting out and causing the gravel to collapse behind Petra and the llama. Their arm raised, seemingly carrying the rest of their body with it as the pyramid collapsed - Petra leaping off onto the edge as the pyramid gave way to a vast, bottomless chasm, swirling with teal and cyan energy. The walls were a complex mess of prismarine, dead coral cutting through and making a seemingly-infinite spiral.

“Jess?! Jess!” Petra cried, locking eyes with her friend as they blinked. Their irises, usually a pale blue, seemed to have lost their colour; now being glazed-over gray voids. “C-Can you hear me?”

“ _Oh, I hear you fine._ ” They smiled, landing on the other side. “ _After all, this Infinipit is my creation._ ”

“Wh… _you_ made this?” She tilted her head. “Or… the gauntlet. Are you talking through Jess?!”

“ _I… Hm. I suppose you could say I am talking ‘through’ them. But what is stopping me from saying that I have… become them?_ ”

“Listen, whatever you’re doing…” She pulled out her sword, raising it defensively. “I’m not afraid to pry that gauntlet off of them by any means necessary!”

They laughed. “ _Any means? Any at all?_ ” They snickered, placing the gauntlet-bearing hand on Petra’s shoulder. “ _Would you truly maim your friend in the pursuit of freeing them from me?_ ”

She pressed the edge of the sword against Jess’ forearm, pushing their arm away and keeping the edge against their skin. “Do not test me. Whoever you are. _What_ ever you are.”

“ _Help me get to the surface then; I-- we-- can still make this work. Your friend’s impulsive foolishness won’t stop me from making you the ultimate vessel of our perfection.”_

“I’ll get us to the surface when you **_STOP POSSESSING MY FRIEND!_ **” She yelled, shoving and knocking Jess on their rear again, sword tip pressed against the crook of their elbow. "Who are you?!”

" _Who am I? My, that is a good question, isn't it._ " They laughed, gripping the sword blade with their hand, ripping the hilt from Petra's grip and sending the sword careening into the pit. " _It's easy to say that I'm still Jess. That it's still your best friend! Your crush! But… clearly I'm not. I'm just something using your dear friend as a conduit for my own schemes._ " They stood up again. " _Come now, Petra. You need to get that_ **_thing_ ** _back, don't you?_ "

"And how do _you_ know about that?" She asked, tilting her head. "Even Jess doesn't know about that."

" _What's to say I didn't… infer from your recovery service?_ " They chuckled. " _You're on your own solo adventure now. The quest: Dare to free Jess. Also get Mr. Butterflies back from that har--_ "

"Miss Butter! My sword's name is Miss Butter!" She groaned, hand hitting her face. "Besides, we can't go back the way we came in; you caused the wall to collapse."

They wordlessly pointed up, then towards a pile of dirt. The Gauntlet glowed, Petra watching as dirt floated, building a crude staircase from the floor to the ceiling in a spiral pattern. " _And now we can escape through this opening._ "

The two hurried their way up, Petra groaning as the llama casually rode upon her back. By the time she made it to the surface, Jess was already standing there looking bored.

"Don't judge. I had extra company." She quipped dryly, softly patting the llama's head. "C'mon, let's get you to your owner… soon as we patch this hole."

The llama wiggled knowingly, trotting over and loafing next to Jess as Petra scribbled something on a sign, slamming it down and covering the hole with cobblestone.

" _Impressive. Your skills in covering up holes is impeccable._ " Jess snickered.

"Yeah, I've been told I'm good at filling holes. Narrow inconvenient ones especially." She folded her arms, walking over and gently nudging the llama. It got up begrudgingly, bleating in disdain as the three started walking. "So tell me, Mx. Gauntlet, what did you want with Jess anyway?"

" _I didn't want anything to do with them, truthfully. I had a much… better champion in mind, until they decided they wanted allll the fun for themselves._ " They rolled their eyes. " _But like most patrons of artifacts with strange, unknown origins, I am a resourceful entity. I can still have my better champion… by proxy._ " Their fingers subconsciously wrapped around Petra's, whose face grew warm. Even with them covered in dried zombie stank, their own blood, and being currently under the control of a freaky gauntlet… it still made her absolutely giddy to be holding their hand.

“I… I was supposed to be the champion?” She asked slowly, trying to contain herself. It wasn’t Jess. Not right now. Those rough, scarred hands, the bruises on their arms, their ruined sweater, the… their midnight hair, pale yellow streak highlighting their round, friendly face…

Petra shook her head as Jess laughed. “ _Ah… indeed you were. I should not be surprised you do not remember - you were my vessel, briefly, before Jess ruined everything._ ”

“I-- huh. I guess that makes sense if I was the one that’s supposed to be wearing it…” She slowed her pace slightly, voice trailing off. “You… really think I’m worthy of being a ‘champion’, huh?”

“ _Of course. You have made your share of mistakes - but haven’t we all? You and I are cut of the same cloth; we are both individuals who strive for order yet seem to only cause chaos. Rogues, as it were; we are predispositioned to lack what we desire._ ” Jess chuckled, looking up and holding their arms out to either side of them. “ _And yet… here we are - here_ **_you_ ** _are - living every day. You may live in fear of what you believe the inevitable, but I find that... to not be the case._ ”

“...Can we save me being psychoanalyzed by a glove possessing my friend until _after_ we get my sword back?” Petra asked, looking away. Stupid omni...omni-smart glove.

“ _Well, certainly, but I think you’ll find it will prove ineffective to use the sword on either me or the gauntlet._ ” Jess rolled their eyes. _“I can only be hurt using a sword made of pure bedrock, and last I checked, nobody was able to mine bedrock. Nobody mortal, anyway! Hah!_ ”

Petra rolled her eyes, pointing towards a grand city on the other side of the road from Beacontown - bright, curved skyscrapers rose from the ground like the manicured claws of a self-absorbed dirt wench. “‘Mortal’ or otherwise, your weird… intimidation factor might help me get my sword back. If you’re willing to lend a hand to your… apparent future champion.”

“ _Well, certainly, Petra. I wouldn’t make much for a good ally otherwise._ ” They replied with a shrug, trotting not far behind as Petra upped her pace, walking down the road away from Beacontown.


	3. The Mayor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Jess" and Petra attempt to reason with Stella, but to what end?

_"I’m merely here to make sure you pay up your end of the bargain."_

The two of them came to a large terracotta arch, surrounded on either side by walls of stone and concrete. Petra looked up at it, shuddering slightly and quietly pointing at the open doors welcoming them into the city.

“Through there…” Petra mumbled, looking away.

“ _ Indeed. I was afraid we would have to scale the wall. _ ” Jess snarked, gently tugging Petra’s arm as she made sure the llama was still with them. “ _ Come now, let’s get that llama to that wh-- _ ”

“Come on, let’s just get this over with.” She sighed, leading both the llama and Jess into the city proper; casting sarcastic eyes over the comedically average effigy to the llama they were currently towing to the leader. “I still don’t get her obsession with this damn llama…”

“ _ It’s her pet, is it not? Surely you would build a crude effigy for your beloved animal friend if you had the materials… or the animal.” _ Jess replied with a shrug. “ _ But what do I know? I’m the patron lord of weird handwear. _ ”

“You keep saying that.” Petra said, turning and raising an eyebrow at Jess. “The ‘patron’ of the gauntlet. You mean there’s someone on the other side of you, like I’m not just talking to my friend’s hand?”

“ _ What I am doesn’t matter. Just that I’m here; and you’re stuck with me. _ ” A coy smile crept across Jess’ borrowed lips. “ _ A sensible adventurer would just accept that fact and find a way to cure their friend’s body of such a strange ailment. _ ” Their facial expression softened slightly as they looked around the city. “ _ Of course, right now, I must simply play the fool and allow you to complete this ridiculous folly you have found yourself in. _ ”

“I mean, you wouldn’t  _ have _ to.” She grumbled, “You have freaky mind powers; just brain-jostle her into giving me my sword back.” She rolled her eyes, waving her hand and looking over with a smirk. “It’d definitely get me to follow your lead, Mx. Gauntlet~”

“ _...I may consider it. _ ” They looked away, sighing. “ _ I suppose Jess would have helped you in their own special way. I oughta do the same. _ ”

“Yeah you should.” Petra snickered, playfully smacking them between the shoulderblades. “Like I said, it might get me to follow you~”

The llama bleated angrily rather suddenly, tensing up and refusing to move, loafing in protest in the middle of the walkway. Petra sighed, hand meeting her nose as she swore under her breath. 

“Lousy fuckin…” She sighed, kneeling down and patting the llama on the head. “C’mon, Lluna… even if I gotta carry you, you gotta go back to Stella so I can get my frickin’ sword back, you dig?”

It bleated something, tilting its head back and spitting at Petra, who tumbled back and batted at her face. Jess choked down a laugh, putting their gauntlet-wearing hand up to their mouth.

“ _ Fussy gal doesn’t like her owner, huh? _ ” 

“Preaching to the choir, mate.” she sputtered, scooping the llama up and sighing. “Come on; Stella has her ‘office hours’ there, in the center courtyard.”

“ _ Through the second set of doors, I’m presuming? _ ” They looked over, Petra nodding at them as she held Lluna almost bridal-style. “ _ Understood. _ ”

“Yeah yeah…” she rolled her eyes. “C’mon _. _ ” She mumbled, the llama grumbling as the three of them entered the second set of doors, the central courtyard spreading out before them as they spotted a small crowd of people surrounding a slightly plump blonde woman and her two brick walls she apparently called “bodyguards.”

“ _ I take it that’s the owner. _ ” Jess mumbled as Petra looked at the ground, then over at the woman. She nodded, pointing.

“That’s Stella all right. Short, long blonde hair, chubby but still infuriatingly cute. I guess it’s Puppy Weekend; she’s just throwin ‘em like water balloons.” Petra grumbled, rolling her eyes as the crowd cheered excitedly.

“One puppy per citizen!” The left bodyguard announced, holding his hands up as Stella knelt down, bestowing the gift of a small wolf to a spawn, who squealed with delight as they ran off into the crowd. “Ladies and spawns first, everybody else later!”

“ _ Throwing dogs at children… when will the madness end? _ ” Jess quipped, Petra suddenly grabbing their hand and dragging them to the front of the crowd, Lluna over their shoulder like a sandbag.

“Hey, Stella. Brought you your llama. You wanna trade?” She said, locking eyes with the woman as she grumbled under her breath.

“Ah,  _ Petra, _ thank you for bringing back my  _ daaarling  _ Lluna to me.” She said, false warmth dripping like rotten honey. “Rodrigo, could you take her inside? Give her a bath, too… Don’t want any of that Beacontown  _ musk _ on my precious baby.”

The right bodyguard nodded, Petra passing the llama off and giving her a pat on the snout as the brute stomped away, whistling a soft tune to himself as he did.

Stella folded her arms, raising an eyebrow curiously as Jess walked up to her. “Ah,  _ Jesse,  _ my  _ swoooorn _ rival.” She leaned in, smirking. “What, come to admire the sights? See the lovely skyline? Assist your little girl-friend in helping me get  _ my _ baby girl home?”

“ _ She isn’t my girlfriend. I’m merely here to make sure you pay up your end of the bargain. _ ” They folded their arms, Stella’s eyes immediately shooting down to stare at the gauntlet. “ _ Ah, looking directly at me, wonderful. _ ”

“What a fascinating glove…” Her olive eyes sparkled as she leaned down to get a closer look at it, Petra watching with confused intrigue as to how “Jess” would respond to that. “Perhaps we can arrange a trade? I’ve got puppies, you’ve got an intriguing glove… Sounds fair to me, no? A silly old gauntlet and the  _ gift of life? _ ”

“ _ Trust me. I would love to be given life; unfortunately this glove is tied to them. You’ll have to honor your end of the deal rather than sacrifice your form to be my new vessel. _ ” They said slowly, folding their arms into a rather sassy pose as Stella blinked in bewilderment, stepping back.

“You know what I want, Stella!” Petra stepped forward, leaning over menacingly. “Don’t try to con my  _ friend _ out of their gauntlet!”

“Aww, but what did I get from  _ you _ , Petty? I just  _ can-noooooot  _ remember!” She half-whined, giggling like a smug royal as Jess lifted their hand up, Stella suddenly finding herself a few feet off the ground with a surprised squeal. “H-HEY! Put me down! This isn’t very sportsmanlike for a  _ rival, _ Jesse!”

“ _ The name  _ **_would_ ** _ be Jess, you portly sleaze. _ ” They growled.  _ “Give Petra back Mr. Butter or I will be quite glad to get tough. Surely you wouldn’t want that, would you? _ ”

“ _ Miss _ Butter.” Petra corrected under her breath. “You said you were gonna ‘put it on display’! Since when did that mean I couldn’t  _ use _ it anymore?!”

“You misunderstood the-- AH!” She yelped as Jess dropped her, landing on her arms with a grunt. “You. Misunderstood the terms. You came to me, remember?” She stood up, dusting her skirt off and smiling. “In exchange for me putting the sword on display, you got one of the most luxurious apartments in the city -  _ and _ full decoration rights. None of these other citizens can say  _ they _ have full redecoration permits.”

“I didn’t trade my sword for some freaking  _ PERMIT! _ ” Petra yelled, “I swear on the Dragon, Stella, if you don’t give me my sword back, I’ll-- I…”

“You’ll  _ what, _ Petra? What could you  _ do _ to me that won’t result in you being homeless  _ and  _ angry at your own impulsiveness?” She clapped her hands, one of her bodyguards wordlessly lifting her onto his shoulders as the other three gathered the remaining puppies. “We’re done here. I expect my citizens to behave; and that  _ includes _ my champions, dear.”

With that, she leaned her elbow against the hat of her ferry, pointing towards the grand building in front of them as they trotted off. Jess looked at Petra, pointing towards the puppies being herded inside.

“ _ We can sneak in. It’ll be easier than fighting our way in. _ ” They smiled. “ _ And, perhaps, we’ll sneak ourselves a little present. _ ”

“Do you want to steal a puppy?”

“ _...Perhaps. It may prove useful. _ ” They laughed. “ _ Come! Let’s get Monsieur Beurre _ .”

Petra opened her mouth, before quietly closing it and shaking her head as Jess darted ahead, slinking through the open gate into the kennels.


	4. Retrieved

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Jess" and Petra retrieve Miss Butter from Stella.

_"Don’t breathe a word of that to anybody and I’ll let you go."_

_ Hmph. _ Stella’s heels clicked along the quartz floor of the hallways, hand gripping the hilt of a golden sword as she closed her eyes, twirling it around and posing dramatically. 

“Hah! Take that, infernal foes! I,  _ Petra _ , will be the shining light of this fair city!” She yelled, voice echoing through the halls before tapering off back into the sobering silence of the grand building she called a home. She spun on her toes, stomping with a dramatic pose and thrusting her sword into open air.

To say Stella was… enamored with Petra’s adventurous ways would be understating it. There was a reason she wouldn’t give the sword up, why she was over the moon when Petra offered to live in Champion City… and, perhaps, why Stella had given her such freedom over her apartment.

“I have slayed the Witherstorm! I have fought Wither Skeletons, outnumbered fifty to one!” she said to herself, continuing to walk through the hallway; unaware of the faint barking. She was too lost in her own world, a world where she was, and simultaneously was next to, Petra. “I saved my girlfriend’s llama from the most perilous situation!” She sighed longingly after that one.

“Well… that one can wait a bit.” She mumbled to herself, shrugging. She might’ve had a knack for exaggerating the truth, but only when it didn’t make her feel sad. That one did; so she wasn’t going to.

She spun around again, walking backwards and waving the sword in the air. “Hah! I’ll get you, dastardly foes - for it is I, Petra, armed with her sword -- Miss BUUUUTTEERRRRRR!!!!” She said in an announcer-like voice, spinning around and slashing through the air. “And by her side, the great Wither-Slayer, Defender of The Portals… her --  _ best friend -- _ Jess!!!!” she laughed to herself, before locking eyes with Jess and Petra.

Jess was snickering. Petra was staring. She dropped the sword, face growing hot as she took a step back. “O-Oh… Hello there!”

“‘Sup.” Petra said casually. Jess merely waved; Stella looked out the window, arm gripping at her sleeve.

“You’re… you aren’t supposed to be in here. I told you we were done in the courtyard, didn’t I?” She glared, more as Jess than at Petra. “And as for  _ you, _ Mx. Alabaster, I’d rather you  _ didn’t _ intrude on my personal space after your little levitation prank earlier.”

“ _ I swear upon my own grave I shan’t be lifting you again. If anything, I feel Jess would be flattered by such things; they have a tendency to cry at the first hint of appreciation. _ ” They replied flatly, shrugging. 

“Look.” Stella sighed, kicking the sword over to the two of them, Petra picking it up with a big grin on her face. “Just… Don’t breathe a word of that to anybody and I’ll let you go. You can keep the apartment if you need a place to stay. Just… get outta here.” Her hand met her face. “ _ So embarrassing… _ ”

“ _ We thank you, Stella. Perhaps next time you should be a touch more upfront about your feelings, however? _ ” Jess said, flashing her a knowing smirk as the two of them left the treasure room.

She put a hand on her face, sighing as her forehead rested on the stained glass. By the Dragon, she was  _ so _ stupid... 

Jess and Petra walked along the road, Petra holding her sword high as she grinned wildly. “RAH!  _ SO _ good to have you back!”

“ _ That sword might as well be your daughter! _ ” Jess teased, playfully slugging Petra as the ground began to rumble around them. Their face froze in shock, head snapping over to the patch of cobblestone Petra had laid that afternoon.

“What’s that shaking?”

“ _ I… I can only control one entity at a time… _ ” Jess stammered, sprinting towards the rumbling ground as it burst to life, sending them careening back as dozens of creepers, eyes glowing bright cyan as their vine-like fur swirled with white energy, carving angular veins in their already-terrifying forms.

“What the--!?” Petra raised her sword, turning towards Jess - who wasn’t responding. “Jess! Whatever’s controlling Jess! Speak to me, man!” Her shouts turned into panicked sobs as Jess refused to move. They weren’t dead, yet - they hadn’t poofed. Petra needed to act fast before they really  _ were _ in danger.

She screamed, spinning violently as she swung her sword, sending a squad of creepers back into the pit; only for more to fly out. She looked down the pit, seeing what must have been hundreds of creepers filling the cave like spiders in a mineshaft. She backflipped away from the edge, her feet springing off a group of them as they flew out of the mouth. “GET THE  **_FUCK!_ ** AWAY FROM MY  **_TOWN!!_ ** ” She shrieked, shoving the last group of creepers back down, sighing in relief as she looked down and saw them all jump into the Inifinipit below them.

She quietly patched up the hole, this time with a handful of obsidian, and made her way over to Jess - praying they were okay.

They twitched slightly, eyes opening slowly as they looked up at Petra. Their eyes were still pale grey, looking almost entirely white in the dim lighting.

“ _ I… apologise. Was everything managed okay?” _ They asked, holding their head. “ _ The cobblestone… it must have knocked them unconscious. _ ”

“Knocked  _ them _ unconscious?” Petra tilted her head. “Have they been aware this entire time?”

“ _...Somewhat. They do not know where they are, yet their consciousness is required for my usage of their body. If they are injured, I cannot borrow them. _ ”

“Why do you need to ‘borrow’ Jess, anyway? I know we’ve been on pretty okay terms all day, but... I think anyone would ask why some weird otherworldly  _ whatever _ is taking control of their best friend.”

“ _ To…”  _ They paused, looking at their hands. “ _ To ensure... safe passage of my champion. _ ”

“Me. You need to keep Jess under your control to keep  _ me _ safe.” Petra gave them a look. “But why?”

“ _ Consider it… instinct, I suppose. I cannot truly understand why I am so compelled to keep you protected; you are just a mortal. I cannot fling myself upon a blade for you when borrowing Jess--” _

“Didn’t stop you from flinging that other sword of mine into the Infinipit using their bare hand.” Petra grabbed Jess’ other arm, showing the barely-healed gash across their palm.

“ _ \-- and yet, I feel a… strange kinship between us. One that must be protected at all costs.  _ **_Especially_ ** _ if you are to become my champion. _ ” Jess finished.

“I guess that makes sense…” Her head looked over toward the obsidian, then over towards the city wall.

“ _ You know someone who can help us. We have the power of Jess’ entourage, sure, but you know more. Much more. _ ”

“...I might. You know anybody named Jack?”

A cold look grew on Jess’ face. “ _ Jack… _ ” They snarled. “ _ Oh, I know him well. Too well. He destroyed some of my hardest work. _ ”

“And he can help us close the Infinipit and keep Beacontown - and  _ myself -  _ safe.” Petra pointed out. “I suppose we wouldn’t need to close the Infinipit had Jess not gotten so grabby, but now that it’s a danger,  _ I’m _ in danger. And we can’t have that, can we Mx. Gauntlet?”

“ _ I suppose we cannot. Tell me, Petra. How much do you truly know about Jack? _ ”

“I… not a lot, honestly. I know he used to be a great adventurer. Saved a Vindicator a long time ago.” She shrugged. “I just have a hunch he can help us.”

“ _ Perhaps he will. I have no doubt he can help close the Infinipit… if he can so easily escape my Trials. _ ”

Jess stood up, Petra taking their hand.

“ _ We should at least get Jess cleaned up though. Imagine visiting an idol only to reek of rotting flesh and your own blood.” _

Petra snickered. “I ain’t doin it; if you want Jess to get clean you gotta do it yourself.”

“ _ That is valid. We shall meet outside the fountain in the morning. _ ” Jess smiled, their face extending just a bit too much and making it look more like a malicious grin. “ _ Thank you for the wonderful day in the shoes of a mortal. _ ”

“I, uh… you’re welcome, I guess?” Petra’s face flushed as she looked away. Jess… really should say “thank you” to her a little more, huh.


	5. Jack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess and Petra find someone that might be able to help them.

_“I got rid of it by single-handedly pissing off the most powerful entity in this world.”_

When they woke up the next morning, they found themselves clean; not a drop of blood on their skin. Sure, they were still covered in bruises and their nose was still a consuming purple, but beyond that they looked completely fine.

They sighed, stretching and walking over to a chest near their bed against the wall, opening it and pulling out… completely clean clothes? When they’d passed out… huh.

They shrugged, putting their outfit on and making their way down into the Order Hall. Radar was waiting for them, twig-like figure darting around and cleaning things up.

“Oh! Jess!” He squeaked, spinning around to look at them. “You-you're awake!" 

“Uh… yeah? How long was I out? The last thing I remember…” They put a hand on their head. “I punched a gauntlet. Then everything after that until I woke up is just… a blur.”

“Well, Petra said you weren’t really there. Your body had been… well, they’d called it ‘borrowed’ according to her… but I don’t really know what that means.” He looked up at them. “I guess whatever it did blinded you in one eye though…”

“Blinded?” Their hand shot up to their face, fingers tracing the eye that remained grey. “I… I mean, I guess you’re right; I can’t…  _ see  _ anything out of it. What in the name of the Dragon  _ happened…? _ ”

“You’re better off asking Petra… sorry.” Radar mumbled, looking away. Jess jogged outside, looking over in surprise as Petra waved them down.

“Jess! Over here!” She called, nodding as Jess stepped closer. “I… Oh, it’s actually you!”

“What does that  _ mean!? _ ” Jess cried. “I was  _ borrowed?! _ I’m blind in one eye, all because of-- of  _ THIS! _ ” They yelled, thrusting the gauntlet into Petra’s chest. “Radar says you’re the one to talk to about what happened because my entire  _ day _ vanished as soon as I saved you from this thing.”

“Relax, dude…” Petra mumbled. “You were with me all day; we did what I needed to get done, the llama got rescued, I even walked you back to the Order Hall.”

“But what in Nether’s name ‘borrowed’ me?!” 

“I dunno, it never gave a name; just that it was connected to the Gauntlet somehow. The ‘patron’ of it, or something.”

Jess groaned. “First the Witherstorm, then the Portal Keys, then that time Lukas got swiped by that one weirdo… and now  _ this? _ ”

“I dunno man, trouble comes to you like a magnet.” Petra shook her head. “If it helps, I know of a guy in town who might be able to help.”

“You know  _ of _ someone?”

“You’ll see.” A coy smile crept across Petra’s face as they took Jess’ hand. “I’ve been looking for an excuse to show you this place… and, maybe, to meet the guy who runs it.”

They ran off into an alleyway, ducking as the gruffer-looking folk in the alleyway shot them venomous glances.

“This is Bad Luck Alley.” Petra said. “Home of the off-grid and down-low sort…”

“And you’re bringing the mayor back here because…?”

“Because there’s a cool place I want you to see.” Petra rolled their eyes, stopping as the two found themselves before a massive building shaped like a boat, red and white wool sails made to look as if they were folding in the wind. On the ship’s bow was a faded banner sporting a menacing gray face.

“Who  _ built _ this?!” Jess asked incredulously. “I’ve seen the sails from the Order Hall, but the whole ship…  _ wow. _ ”

“This is Jack and Nurm’s Adventure Emporium.” Petra explained. “I’ve never met the two of ‘em, but Jack is said to be one of  _ the _ best adventurers of his time.”

“And you’re trying  _ very _ hard not to melt into a fangirl puddle.”

“I-Is-is it that obvious?” She stammered. “I don’t want it to be obvious.”

“Petra! Just be yourself.” Jess put a calming hand on her shoulder. “You’re part of the  _ New Order. _ I think he’ll be just as excited to see you… even if he doesn’t show it.”

The two entered the building, looking at the seemingly-uninhabited area. Petra skittered around, eyes sparkling as she took in all the various memorabilia. Shards of glass,  _ another _ flint and steel, this one glowing a faint brown. Jess caught a glimpse of the flint and steel, rolling their eyes with an agitated scoff.

The two looked over at a simple stone button, then at the sign underneath it. “PRESS FOR SERVICE.”

Petra shrugged, pushing the button. A buzz echoed throughout the building, making Jess tense up in surprise.

“I like a visitor that can take a risk.” A gruff voice said. The two looked in the direction of the voice, finding an older man leaning against the doorframe, back to them. He had shoulder-length hair; mostly dirty blonde, but with streaks of grey. His shirt was faded and torn, arms scarred as he chuckled. “Welcome to the Emporium; you two are…?”

“I-I’m… I’m Petra.” Petra replied with a squeak. “Th-this is Jess.”

“Petra and Jess… ah.” He turned his head slightly, his eye a brilliant grey. Jess’ fingers immediately touched the lower eyelid of their own “blind” eye. “The Portal Power Couple.”

“Well. I guess?” Jess mumbled. Petra looked away, blushing. “We uh…”

“We need an appraisal.” Petra said flatly. The man turned around, smug smirk turning into a hollow look of terror as his eyes drifted to Jess’ arm, the gauntlet swirling with energy.

“I…” He stammered. His body shook as he took a fearful step back. “I can’t help. N-Not with that.”

“Why not?!” Jess said, unexpectedly shouting. “We don’t know what it is, and it’s…”

“It’s been possessing you.” he leaned over the counter, grabbing Jess by the chin and locking eyes with them. “Left you with a mark of its power.”

“A… A mark?”

“You lost sight in that eye, didn’t you? And it's opposite to my own eye…” He mumbled something under his breath, looking at his hands and wiping them on his shirt. “With the eyes complete…”

“The eyes…  _ complete? _ ” Petra tilted her head. “What, can the Gauntlet suddenly see twice as much?”

“No,  _ no! _ You-- Jess-- How did you get that thing.” He pointed to Jess, hand quaking.

“We were rescuing a llama from the mines… it started talking to Petra, so I vaulted over her and grabbed it so she’d snap out of it…”

“But they ended up talking weird the rest of the day.” Petra finished. The man looked like he was about to pass out, shaking his head in disbelief as a villager walked up from the back room, quietly wrapping their arms around the man.

“N-Nurm… Nurm they have it… they have the Gauntlet…” He babbled. Nurm cooed something in reassurance, the other man shaking his head and sighing. “R-Right… Gotta keep my cool. As best I can.”

“You’re Jack, and he’s Nurm, then?” Jess asked. Jack nodded silently. “Then you guys can help us! We… well,  _ I _ don’t want this stupid gauntlet stuck to me, and apparently  _ you _ have experience with it and getting  _ rid _ of it…”

“But that’s the thing, Jess.  _ How _ you get rid of it.”

Nurm rolled his eyes, mumbling something as Jack threw a hand up. 

“Not.  _ Now. _ ” He growled at Nurm, who sighed and tipped his hat towards Petra before walking back into the other room. “I got rid of it by single-handedly pissing off the most powerful entity in this world.”

“We have a bad habit of making otherworldly beings angry as it is, Jack.” Petra said flatly.

  
“And what was the most powerful foe you faced? The Witherstorm. Take that, amplify it by a thousand, and make it  _ completely indestructible. _ That is the kind of power we are talking about here.”


	6. Deep Below

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Jack and Nurm in tow, Jess and Petra set off to explore the Sea Temple... and the dangers within.

_ “This… this isn’t happening…”  _

“And you can’t help us with that? Not even to enact a little petty revenge?” Jess asked quietly. Jack closed his eyes, exhaling sharply.

“I... No. I’m sorry.” He looked at them. “I like your early work. The Witherstorm was something we’re all thankful you defeated. I don’t really get the Old Builder thing but it was a nice touch how you started a revolution in the dorms. But…  _ This _ world, the one you call home, it’s… way bigger than you think it might be.”

He led them back into the back room, Nurm nodding understandingly as he flicked the lever on the wall. The map sunk into the wall, the edges growing as pistons added maps to the sides. In the bottom-right quadrant, right in the middle, was an empty stone block.

“I threw the map into a volcano not long after it happened…” He sighed, looking at Nurm… almost pleadingly. “He’s been bugging me to help him make a new one, what with my  _ perfect memory… _ ” 

“Sounds like you need to go back anyway.” Jess said, putting their free hand on Jack’s arm. He recoiled slightly, but eventually began to slowly nod. “It’ll be tough, but… I think you can do it.”

“I… Maybe you’re right.” He nodded more confidently, looking at Nurm. “Nurmie, do you wanna come with?”

Nurm practically leapt from his seat, grinning wildly as he mumbled something excitedly. Jack laughed, giving him a soft peck on the nose as they walked to opposite ends of the room, grabbing various things from chests.

“Guess they need to get their adventuring gear, huh?” Petra said. Jess nodded as the two walked back over to them - Jack now sporting black fingerless gloves, while Nurm donned a beat-up leather jacket, the two of them seeming way more relaxed now that they were more prepared.

“All of you, with me.” Jack said, putting a hand to his chest with a far more confident smile. “Jess, Petra (was it?), you two guard our rear. Nurm, we’ll need you to point out landmarks for them.” He grinned. “I’ll take the lead.”

“That’s the spirit!” Jess cheered, them and Petra high-fiving as they all left the building, Nurm quietly locking the door with a gentle smile. Leave it to a couple of rowdy newcomers to re-ignite Jack’s adventuring spirit…

“I’ve always loved adventuring during springtime.” Jack mused softly. “The leaves are always so pretty. Have you ever noticed just how… blue? The leaves are?”

Nurm said something in confusion, and Jack gave him a look. Petra and Jess looked at each other, Petra shrugging as they carried on.

“The uh. The leaves are green, Jack.” Jess corrected quietly. “What makes you think they’re blue?”

“They just look blue to me, kid.” He shrugged. “I’ve always seen things a little differently.”

\--

The sun had set behind them ages ago, the moon lurking behind clouds pouring rain as they arrived on a deserted island. Thunder crashed around them, lightning flashing in the distance as they hurried towards a cave in the center of the island, Petra narrowly avoiding getting struck as she was the last one to dive into the cave.

“This was where… my group and I had planned our…” Jack took a deep breath. “Final adventure. Though we didn’t know it then.”

Nurm put a reassuring hand on Jack’s shoulder. He tensed up for a brief moment, his fingers interlocking with Nurm’s as the two looked out the mouth of the cave.

“It was the four of us. Myself, Nurm… and our friends, Sammy and Vos. Nurm had only just left his clan when we found ourselves here… He used to say it was this island that gave him the inspiration to start his cartography work.” 

Nurm nodded, softly burying his chin into Jack’s shoulder. Jack smiled softly, playfully swiping Nurm’s hat - and allowing deep brown hair to spill out from the center, loosely flopping to the side.

“So that’s what you two used to do? Just adventure?” Jess asked. The two nodded.

“We did a lot.” Jack laughed. “But here…” He sighed. “Here, it all changed.”

They made their way into the cave again, Jack breaking the dirt wall behind Petra. Behind them was a barrel - Jack pried the lid off, throwing it to the side and pulling out four leather helmets - each dyed and glowing a different color. Jack put on the yellow one, while Nurm put on the green one. Petra and Jess each looked at their helmets - Petra’s was orange, while Jess’ was a sky blue.

“Here goes nothing, I guess…” Jess mumbled as the two put their helmets on, following Jack and Nurm towards the beach. The storm had started to let up, the chaotic lightning now turning to low, rumbling thunder in the distance.

“We’ll have to swim deep - but these helmets are enchanted.” Jack explained, pointing towards the water. “Down there is a sea temple -  _ the _ Sea Temple. When Sammy first explained it to me…” His brow furrowed, trying to remember. “It’d called it ‘Heyvn’, said it was… the ‘fourth counterpart’ or something like that…”

“Heyvn? That’s kind of a dumb name.” Petra snickered.

“The Admin named it, not us.” Jack rolled his eyes. “Come on.”

He took a long breath, closing his eyes and diving into the water - the other three following.

It wasn’t long before they found themselves in front of a giant pyramid, made of prismarine and quartz - with a huge hole through the side of it.

“I did that.” Jack said, sounding… smug, but in a bitter way. “Bit of revenge.”

“Wow…” Petra said incredulously. “You tore the wall to shreds!”

The currents around them got rougher as they swam closer. Jack tried to lead them towards the hole in the side, only for a wall of current to blast them all backwards.

They ended up going through the original entrance, the water around them receding.

“So why are we down here, anyway?” Jess looked up at Jack. “You never explained it.”

He looked away, falling suspiciously quiet as they ventured farther into the temple. They came to a large door, with a single hole in the center.

“There.” He said, pointing. “For the Gauntlet.”

Jess nodded, walking forward and punching the hole. The wall rumbled, Jess pulling their hand away as it came down, giving way to a larger room - Quartz floors, dark prismarine walls, with obsidian on the corners. There were four floating cubes of water, each holding a sleeping… fish thing.

“Guardians.” Jack whispered. “We’ll have to sneak past them.”

The others nodded, quietly tiptoeing through the room…

Until Nurm’s foot touched a pressure plate. Rather suddenly, the room began to rumble, the four Guardians awakening and staring at the group menacingly.

“SCATTER!” Petra screamed, ducking and rolling to the side as Jack and Jess ran in opposite directions, hiding behind pillars.

Nurm, however, was caught in the combined beams of all four Guardians, screaming in terror… before poofing into smoke. Where Nurm once stood was nothing more than his hat, jacket and robe… and a glittering emerald bracelet.

The Guardians looked around, glaring menacingly at the seemingly open air before falling asleep once more.

Jack crept out from his pillar, falling to his knees and limply picking up Nurm’s hat, clutching it in his quaking, ghostly white hands.

“This… this isn’t happening…” was all he managed to whimper.


	7. You Aren't Real

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess, Jack, and Petra find a new ally in the Temple.

_"Tell me something the real you would know."_

They all looked over at Jack, then at the wall behind them. Another keyhole for the Gauntlet… Jess walked over, quietly punching it to open the way, before walking over to Jack quietly.

“He… He can’t be…” Jack babbled, unmoving. Petra looked around, then at Jess.

“You stay here with him. I’m gonna get these out of the way.” She said, tiptoeing around. She eyed the sponge that gripped at the corners of each water cube, scuttling clockwise to shove sponge into all of the water, absorbing it and killing the guardians.

“Nurm… N-Nurm…” Jack’s voice grew more desperate, begging cries ricocheting off of the walls. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” his whimpers turned to sobs, then to wails, filling the room with his shattered heart as he clutched the crumpled hat close to his chest. Petra and Jess shared a look, Jess quietly wrapping their arms around Jack.

He thrashed for a moment, before choking back a sob and letting himself sag, falling backwards and practically melting into Jess’ arms.

“Jack… Jack, I’m  _ so _ sorry--” Jess started, Jack looking away as Petra’s attention suddenly shifted towards a box in the corner. Something they’d overlooked - a small room made of bedrock, tucked away in the corner of the room, on the wall they’d entered from.

And someone was pounding on it. Petra ran over, stepping on the pressure plate again - with no Guardians in the room, the rumbling instead opened the bottom of the bedrock cube, and a small woman fell out, springing to her feet.

“Who are you!? Wha-- wh… Jack?” Her voice was small, sweet - not unlike a child’s, with a faint accent. “Jackie…!”

“N-no… NO!” Jack screamed, jumping to his feet and drawing his sword, Nurm’s belongings automatically flying up into Jack’s inventory. “YOU GET AWAY FROM ME!”

“Jackie, calm down!” The girl waved her arms, suddenly squealing as Jack grabbed her by the collar with his free hand. “W-Wait! I can--!”

“You. AREN’T! REAL!” He roared, locking eyes with her. “I won’t believe it! I-I can’t! Nurm d-dying, and then  _ you _ appearing?! You’re a trick! You’re just in my head!” his breathing grew panicked and labored, Jess and Petra looking at him with worry. “G-Ghh… T-Tell me something the  _ real _ you would know.”

“You used my bow and Vos’ potions to blast a hole in the wall and swim away - I saw the Admin’s face, he was  _ furious. _ He locked me in that box and kept me around like a  _ toy _ !” She blubbered, brow furrowing in fear. Her brown hair was long, almost to the middle of her back, with lighter highlights along the bangs and bottom half. “J-Jackie, please… Please believe me…”

Jack dropped her, her landing on the floor with a grunt as he backed away. “I… S-Sammy, it’s been… it’s been so long…”

“I know. I’m… I’m sorry I couldn’t find you.” She sighed. “You guys being here… Something happened on the surface, didn’t it?”

Jess quietly held up the gauntlet, and she froze. “Yeah. Uh… This.”

“He chose you…” Her voice wavered. “We…  _ I _ … Jack… He wore it before you. It’s how he--”

“Lost his eye?”

She nodded. “And you have lost the same.” She looked around. “But we met… the very first bearer. Long ago.”

“The first bearer?”

Sammy nodded. “His name escapes me, these days… but he wrote a book about it. ‘Gifts and Curses: A Guide To The Omnidimensional.’” She stood up, pointing towards the wall Jess had opened. “Come on; we oughta make our way out of this dreadful atmosphere.”

Jack nodded slowly, following everyone else slowly as they entered the next room - a long hallway, painted on either side with long, brilliant murals. The paintings started simple, depicting five figures, each wearing unique armor, growing in detail as it… told the journey of Jess’s adventure… defeating the Witherstorm, the painting showing them driving a shovel through the command block. Underneath it were… strange runes, red paint still dripping.

**ᔑ ℸ ̣ ᒷ∷∷╎ʖꖎᒷ !¡ꖎᔑリ.**

Sammy walked up to the edge of the walkway, squinting as she leaned forward. “‘A terrible plan.’ I wonder…”

“Wonder what?”

“I think the Admin wrote that. Commenting on… I guess the storm’s heart being so easily defeated.”

“ **_EASILY_ ** DEFEATED?!” Jess cried out. “If it were  _ easy _ I wouldn’t’ve lost Reuby!”

Petra put a hand on Jess’ shoulder. “The Admin wouldn’t know ‘easy’ if it bit ‘im in the nuts, Jess.”

They kept walking, stopping and looking at another part of the painting, this part depicting… Harper and Ivor. Holding hands, their painted forms coming together as one entity as the background became the red of PAMA’s interior… it sent a chill down Jess’ spine.

**ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷᓭᒷ ᒷリℸ ̣ ╎ℸ ̣ ╎ᒷᓭ ꖎ╎⍊ᒷ↸, ∴⍑╎ꖎᒷ ℸ ̣ ⍑╎ᓭ ᒷリℸ ̣ ╎ℸ ̣ || ↸╎↸ リ𝙹ℸ ̣.**

“‘These entities lived, while this one did not.’” Sammy read, raising an eyebrow. “What’s the other entity here?”

“PAMA.” Jess said flatly. “I ripped its heart out.”

“Brutal.” She mumbled.

“It doesn’t really know much about fighting.” Jack snickered. “At least not close-up.” He laughed as she sputtered, shoving him onto his rear.

“Fuck off! I was the one who saved your ass in Quis’Xen!” She snarked, rolling her eyes and continuing onward as Petra helped a laughing Jack to his feet.

“Yeah, I know! All four-foot-nine of you managed to climb inside the Mecharacharch’s exhaust pipe and blow it up!” Jack rolled his eyes. “And Vos, Vos as he was, decided it was a good idea to  _ reassemble _ the thing when we got back!”

“Four! Foot! TEN!” She screeched, looking up at the wall again.

This one was different. The background was black, a figure Jess could only figure was Lukas looking unbearably small in the black expanse around him, as he turned around to find himself in front of a giant cyan ball of light, a teal hand underneath him.

**ꖎ⚍ꖌᒷ 𝙹ᓵᒷꖎᔑℸ ̣ ⚍ᓭ ᓵᔑリᔑ∷||, 24 ᓵ||ᓵꖎᒷᓭ 𝙹ꖎ↸**

**∷ᒷᓵᒷリℸ ̣ ꖎ|| ꖎᒷ⎓ℸ ̣ ᔑꖎᔑʖᔑᓭℸ ̣ ᒷ∷. ||ᒷℸ ̣ ╎ ᓵᔑリリ𝙹ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ᒷꖎꖎ ⍑╎ᓭ !¡ᔑℸ ̣ ⍑ ᒷ⍊ᒷリ ╎リ 𝙹⚍∷ ᓭ𝙹ꖎ𝙹ᓭ!¡ᔑᓵᒷ.**

**ᓵ⚍∷╎𝙹⚍ᓭ. ╎ ᓭ⚍!¡!¡𝙹ᓭᒷ ╎ ∴╎ꖎꖎ ꖎᒷᔑ⍊ᒷ ᒲ|| ⊣╎⎓ℸ ̣ ╎リ ↸⚍ᒷ ℸ ̣ ╎ᒲᒷ.**

“Oh boy.” Sammy mumbled. “‘Luke Ocelatus Canary, 24 cycles old…’”

“‘Recently left Alabaster.’” She continued, Jess biting their lip and looking away. “‘Yet I cannot tell his path even in our solospace.’” She squinted. “‘Curious. I suppose I will leave my gift in due time.’”

Jess looked at their hand. Everyone else did, as well. “Then why did he seek out Petra if he was initially looking at Lukas?”

“Perhaps it was a matter of ‘telling her path.’” Sammy shrugged. “What does that other mural look like? If this recounts your tales…”

The group turned around, observing the other mural.

A cyan figure stood in the middle, arms outstretched as beams of light shone from behind it. Various scribbles surrounded it, and multicolored figures were smiling, cheering him on.

**ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷリ ╎ ∴╎ꖎꖎ ʖᒷ ᒲ|| 𝙹∴リ ⎓∷╎ᒷリ↸.**

“‘Then I will be my own friend.’” Sammy echoed, tilting her head. “Guess the guy didn’t really care much for his… original friends?”

“Or they didn’t care much for him.” Petra mumbled. “Yeesh, no wonder the Gauntlet called to me.”

Jess shot her a glare as Sammy continued onward, stopping at a wall.

“Showtime, gaunty.” She said, almost mocking them as they sighed, unlocking the wall and watching it crumble. They found themselves in front of a set of stairs, height stretching far above them.

The four of them raced up the stairs, finding themselves in a massive room. Staircases crawled up both sides, converging in front of a massive wall of runes.

“Jack.. Jackie, we did it! We made it!” Sammy’s voice broke, gleeful tears streaming down her face as she dashed in, kneeling on the ground… almost in reverence. Sea lanterns decorated the floor, pillars of obsidian and gold holding the higher walkways up - the walls being double helixes of cyan and orange concrete, slicing through the total blackness of the starry void-like blocks that surrounded it.

“This… woah…” Petra gasped. “It’s so… different.”

“Strange that the hole isn’t visible from inside, though…” Jess mumbled. “Maybe Jack got in the gaps between the rooms somehow.”

“If only Nurm were here… he’d have been delighted to see all of this.”

“I’m… eternally sorry for his fall, Jack.” Sammy said, placing a gentle hand on Jack’s back. “He walks with the Eynori once more.”

  
“Damn the Eynori.” Jack mumbled. “And damn this Dragon-lost temple for taking  _ everyone _ away.”


	8. Torn Pages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A torn page strewn amongst the story so far.

_Note to Self: Make sure this page **stays** in the diary... you really must fix the binding on this old thing._

_ Day 65535, _

_ Yet still he struggles. He screams from his prison, begging for freedom. Begging for escape. Yet his pleas fall on deaf ears. (If only I were truly deaf.) _

_ She breached the core with Jack, Jesse, and Petra. I’m glad my guidance has helped her. It’s a shame, really; having to borrow her physique for this particular mission. Surely she hasn’t missed it, though; most in her Node don’t feel anything anymore. _

_ I must say, I do feel an odd sense of dread, realising NR2 is so close to NFT. The caretakers assure me the NR2 residents are at least functioning enough to have a natural fear of that iron door. They don’t even occupy the top half of the node when the door is visible to them. _

_ Luckily, once he calms down from his expletive-infused fit, RNG-0224 can be processed far easier, and might even be welcomed by the other residents. Time will tell, of course. _

_ Now to figure out what to do about that nasty obsidian patch just outside of Beacontown’s gate… _

_ Luckily, I may yet have a plan for that. It all depends on which block they take. The shield… or the weapon? _

_ Yours in Eternity, _

_ Me. _


	9. The Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess, Sammy, Jack, and Petra face final obstacle in the Sea Temple.

_Praise! Praise the Admin!_

They looked around, walking up the stairs that led to the runed wall. Sammy made her way up last, making herself known at the front of the group as they all looked at the runes.

“This is it.” She whispered softly, touching the wall with a solemn reverence - It was as if they had begun to tread on holy ground, a timeless place imprisoned deep in the sea. The wall below her fingertips lit up, sending angular beams of light through the wall like cracks as the runes began to glow.

  
  


“What does the glowing mean?” Jess asked quietly, brow furrowing as Sammy stepped back.

**⍑ᒷ∷ᒷ ∴ᒷ ⊣╎⍊ᒷ !¡∷ᔑ╎ᓭᒷ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ╎リ⎓╎リ╎ℸ ̣ ᒷ ꖎ╎⊣⍑ℸ ̣**

**ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ʖ∷╎リ⊣ᒷ∷ 𝙹⎓ ᒲ𝙹⚍リℸ ̣ ᔑ╎リᓭ, ᓵ∷ᒷᔑℸ ̣ 𝙹∷ 𝙹⎓ ∷╎⍊ᒷ∷ᓭ, ⎓ᔑℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ∷ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ᒲ𝙹ʖ ᔑリ↸ ᒲᔑリ ᔑꖎ╎ꖌᒷ**

**!¡∷ᔑ╎ᓭᒷ! !¡∷ᔑ╎ᓭᒷ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᔑ↸ᒲ╎リ!**

“Here we give praise to the Infinite Light.” She began, staring blankly. “The bringer of mountains, creator of rivers, father to man and mob alike… Praise! Praise the Admin!” Her arms stretched outwards, hands in the air as if she were giving a sermon. Jess found themself subconsciously mirroring her… and the gauntlet was beginning to glow.

“Woah-- what??” Jack stared. “Never did that to  _ me… _ ”

“Maybe ‘cause you guys never got this far.” Petra reasoned, as Jess and Sammy both flatly spoke in front of them.

“ _ He who built this world from nothing; who started with mere Bedrock and Void… We ask you for your blessing… open this door! Reveal to us your treasures!” _ Jess and Sammy said in unison. The door rumbled, exploding into shrapnel as Jack and Petra ducked.

“...Well,  _ that _ was surprisingly easy!” Sammy chirped as Jess shook their head, looking around in confusion.

“The… wall exploded?” They asked, looking at the debris on the floor.

“Well  _ duh, _ that’s a very Admin way to make an entrance.” She rolled her eyes, sprinting into the new room. The others followed behind, looking at the center.

There were two pillars; each holding a floating block. One was purple, with light purple energy coursing through it, lights on the side glowing softly. The other was black, with a glowing white circle on all sides; dotted in the center with another black circle.

“Two choices, each vastly different…” She said softly.

“Why don’t you choose, Pets? You were the one the Admin -- I guess -- almost chose.” They shivered. “Scary, knowing we’re dealing with that kinda power…”

“I… hm.” Petra put a hand on her chin. “We’ve dealt with worse, you know that; I say we should take that purple block.”

“The purple one?” Jess questioned. “I dunno, it seems a little… Familiar.”

“Oh, only  _ barely. _ I think it’ll be fine.” She looked over at Sammy. “Hell, you’re the loremaster here; what do you think would fit?”

“Oh, he wouldn’t have a specific one to pick… the two choices - the Shield and the Weapon - they’re just blocks. The Shield, a Structure Block able to create a wall stronger than bedrock. The Weapon… is very mysterious; all we know is the old legends - He, a cunning human, stole the plans for a ‘self-generating vessel,’ long before he became The Admin.”

“He was a human before?” Jess asked, looking at her inquisitively. “Then how did he build the world ‘from bedrock and void’ if he was a human stealing from… some other higher power?”

“That’s the other myth we know. It is said that, when the world  _ was _ nothing, it was him and another power; he tricked the power, forcing it to bestow its powers onto him, and he created the world - tired of the mind games the power had played with him.”

“So he made the world out of petty revenge?” Jack asked. “Explains this place’s obsession with screwing  _ me _ over…”

“Well, not just you, Jack - even before we set out the  _ first _ time I warned you of the sheer amount of bodies this place had collected.” She pointed out, as if it were a plain and obvious fact. Jack rolled his eyes. “Regardless - I think Petra might have the right eyes, gaunty; try that purple one.”

Jess shrugged, shaking their head nervously as they plucked it from the pillar. Both pillars shot into the ground, the room rumbling.

_ You have chosen… the Weapon. My divine light, condensed in its purest form.  _

_ Would you believe it? Can you see it?  _

_ You hold the future. You hold my wrath, my blessings. _

The four of them looked around the room, seeing one wall tear away and reveal the infinite ocean behind it… but the room wasn’t flooding. Instead, there was a form visible in the water, made of bubbles - Flowing hair, a kind… almost parental smile, with bright eager eyes. Jess wondered how bubbles could be so expressive.

“Th-The Admin…” Jack took a step back, pupils tiny. Sammy began to kneel again, while Petra simply stared at Jess holding the purple block.

_ Alabaster. Goldenrod. Amber. Black. _

_ You do not know me; you do not see me. _

_ But I am among you. And you have my boon. My blessings. _

_ You will have to return to the surface soon. But as you do… I have one final challenge. A test, to determine if you are worthy of progressing to the next stage. _

An echoing laugh bounced off the walls as the bubbles dissipated, the water still not moving but something… definitely coming out of it.

“Is that…  _ us?! _ ” Petra asked, taking a step back in fear as four water giants entered the room, each modeled after a different person.

“Th-that’s new!” Sammy squeaked. “Damnit, Jack, you  _ had _ to kill those Colossi, didn’t you?!”

“Oh don’t blame ME for this, Sammy!” Jack drew his sword. “Had to save you and Vos somehow - and look how  _ that _ turned out!”

“I mean, half credit is still credit!” She yelled, charging her own water clone - It charged back.

“So they mirror our movements.” Jess said under their breath, pocketing the block and grinning. “Petra! I have an idea!”

Petra nodded, running over - which drew her water clone closer. Jess and their clone moved closer, Jess climbing onto the real Petra’s shoulders. The water Jess tried to climb onto the water Petra’s shoulders, burbling in surprise as its surface tension broke, splattering everywhere.

“Was that the idea?” Petra asked, wobbling slightly as Jess stood up on their shoulders.

“No, but that’s good to know!” Jess pointed with their sword, and Petra ran forward, Jess leaping up to stab the water Petra - and ending up absorbed into its chest. They held their breath, looking at Petra in alarm.

“Get on my shoulders, Petra!” Jack called out. “If we can pop your water clone--!” He was cut off by his own water clone thrusting at him with his own liquid sword as Jack tried to stab it, being sucked into the tip. 

Petra and Sammy looked at each other and nodded, running as Petra hopped onto Sammy’s back and pulled her down. The water clones mirrored the action, the water Petra splashing everywhere as Jess spluttered, jumping to their feet.

“So! How are we getting Jack out?!” Jess asked. “Petra and I’s water clones are currently soaking our shoes, and with Jack absorbed…”

“Then one of you has to pretend to be Jack!” Sammy looked up. “And we best hurry, he looks like he’s about to poof.”

The two shared a look of alarm, Sammy groaning before grabbing Jess by the hips. “AH-- Hey!”

“Sorry about this, matey.” She mumbled, looking up to see the water Sammy pick up the water Jack in the same way. “Hiii-YAH!”

_ Thunk. _ She flung herself backwards, slamming Jess’ head into the floor as the water Sammy caused the water Jack to splatter, Jack washing up next to Petra’s feet - Petra knelt down, rolling him over and pressing an ear to his chest, pressing her hands against it rhythmically.

Jess laid on the floor, out cold. Jack was barely breathing - Petra was working on that. It was just Sammy and… the water Sammy.

“Come and get it, you salty bitch.” She grumbled, turning and sprinting towards the wall. Predictably, the water clone followed her movements - until they actually got to the wall. While Sammy kicked her foot up, backflipping off of the wall, the water clone ran smack into it, splattering as the room began to rumble again - this time from behind.

“Jack better not be inventory back there.” Sammy warned. “We’re about to have even bigger problems than the water clones.”

He coughed loudly, turning onto his side while in Petra’s arms and hacking up uncomfortable amounts of water. She patted his hair gently, helping him to his feet when the spewing stopped. Sammy and Petra shared a look, Sammy heaving Jess over her shoulder as they turned around - a huge torrent of water was barreling straight toward them.


	10. Repeating History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess, Petra, Sammy, and Jack all make it back to the surface and return to Beacontown... with something huge lurking behind them.

_“I… the… it’s impossible, but… but I heard it in the distance! We heard roaring!”_

They didn’t have time to put their helmets back on before the water steamrolled them, sending the four of them careening out into the ocean - Sammy lost her grip on Jess, flailing as she swam to try and retrieve them.

The currents were too strong however, propelling all of them towards the surface; Jess included - thankfully. They floated between Petra and Sammy, each grabbing one of their arms and swimming upwards - gasping as their heads broke the surface. Jack popped up a second later, all of them swimming towards a small island not far from where they’d surfaced.

Jess lay on the sand, Petra and Sammy doing what they could to wake them back up - slowly, Jess’ eyes fluttered open and they shook their head. A sigh of relief left Petra as Jess sat up, looking around slowly.

"We made it out…" they mumbled. Petra nodded, sitting next to Jess while they got their bearings.

“We’re gonna have to get back to Beacontown soon…” Jack mumbled. “I have a bad feeling.”

“Huh?” Jess and Petra looked up at him, and he started pacing.

“I just… I have a sixth sense for bad things, and it’s going crazy. We  _ have _ to get back.”

The three of them looked at each other before slowly helping Jess to their feet, nodding at Jack.

\--

The sun was rising as they finally saw Beacontown’s gate on the horizon, the mighty door opening as the three finally returned to town. The town was bustling, distant chattering heard as Jess grinned, waving.

“Happy Founding Day, everybody!” They yelled, echoing out… to no response. They shrugged, laughing as two of the townsfolk walked up to the group; a girl wearing a striped shirt and a guy in an orange hoodie.

“Welcome back!” The guy chirped.

“We were worried you’d miss it!” The girl put a hand behind her hair with a grin, the two of them being pushed to the side by Radar darting to the front.

“You’re back! Thank goodness…” He sighed in relief. “It’s been a lot of work, but…”

“You’re doing great, Radar.” Jess smiled. “I’m sorry I forgot to make sure you were okay with it before I left, though…”

“Hahaha, it’s no worry! I… honestly I didn’t know if I could do it, but your friends helped me get my bearings before heading back to their people.” Radar grinned, putting his hands behind his head. “Did you and Petra figure out what you needed to? Any luck figuring things out about that whole ‘borrowing’ thing?”

“Ah…  _ no. _ ” Jess looked away, rolling their eyes.

“Not where we thought, anyway. We ended up searching the Sea Temple to see if we could find a clue and… well, we were partially right.” Petra said with a shrug.

“We found her.” Jess pointed at Sammy. “She knows a lot about the Gauntlet, apparently, and Jack might too.”

“Sammy knows more.” Jack said flatly. 

“C’mon, we should head back to the order hall so we can figure out what to do next…” Petra looked at the others, who nodded as Radar stepped out of the way; them walking through town. 

They entered the Order Hall, Sammy pulling a book from her backpack as the four of them sat beneath the giant window at the back of the hall. 

“These are my notes, from when Jack had it.” She said, opening the notebook. “We’d found it in Quis’xen, in the Mecharachnarch’s chest cavity - he grabbed it after I knocked the thing over. Next thing we’d known, he was starting to act strange; almost… upset that ‘it wasn’t time yet.’ Then, after a couple days… he was fine, albeit blind in that one eye. Vos called it a sickness, but… I knew better. Jack did too, I think.” She put a hand on her chin. “We knew the legends; how an all-powerful being built the world, how the Dragon chooses the new gods, and what happens if that balance is upset… but we also knew the Dragon wouldn’t leave a gift like that - she would leave something that would be important to future generations.”

“The point…?” Jack said slowly. Sammy shook her head, sighing.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. This Admin business is fascinating, okay? The point is, he got rid of the gauntlet by angering the Admin enough to get the powers it gave him taken away. He didn’t  _ want _ to borrow Jack anymore, so the Gauntlet faded away. It didn’t even pop off of his hand… from my perspective, it just disappeared as Jack was swimming away.”

Jack nodded, seemingly confirming the story. “And I spent the rest of my time wishing I could’ve done more.”

“So we just need to make this ‘Admin’ guy angry somehow?” Jess tilted their head. “That seems…  _ incredibly _ dangerous.”

“Well, that’s the way it is.” Sammy shrugged. “None--  _ one _ of us has ever met him face-to-face, so we can’t really go ‘pretty please Mr. Admin, can you take this off of me?’ because we don’t know if he  _ would _ or not.”

“Yeah, doubt it.” Jack mumbled, looking away. “Barely got out of there alive… especially ‘cause I  _ did _ see him face-to-face…” He shivered.

“It’s okay, Jack… we’re all here now.” Petra said, trying to sound reassuring. “We’ve got you.”

“But not Nurm or Vos.” he mumbled. “What am I going to do now…?” his body quaked, fingers tightening around his upper arms as tears welled up in his eyes. “I… what did I do…?”

“ _ You _ didn’t do anything.” Sammy stood up, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You  _ couldn’t. _ ”

“Of course I couldn’t! I can’t do anything! I can’t… I can barely pick up a sword.”

“I can personally disagree with that.” She knelt down, gently wrapping her arms around him. “I’ve seen you fight so many things - and  _ win _ \- I’ve seen how strong you are. Even… even they were impressed, every time.”

“But that was… so long ago. I’m just a… a washed-up  _ fraud _ now.”

“Would a ‘fraud’ have taken us down to the Sea Temple in the hope we might’ve found something?” Petra looked at him. “We lost Nurm, sure, but… we found Sammy, and we got that block, and  _ we _ made it back in one piece.” She stood up. “You’re still pretty strong, Jack - and I’m thankful you kept traveling with us after everything went wrong.”

“I… I…” he shook his head, hands reaching up and gripping at his hair. “No. I can’t believe any of that. Obviously I’m doing  _ something _ wrong if… if the Admin found it fit to take  _ everyone _ away from me.”

“You’re not, though. The Admin’s just a dick.” Sammy mumbled softly. Jack sighed, staring at the mountains behind the glass. “They’ll be remembered.”

Jack pulled Nurm’s hat from his pocket, holding it as tears streamed down his face. “...Remembered… yeah. Hah… all the times i’ve stolen this thing from him… suppose it’s only fitting now.” He slipped the hat on, a faint smile passing through him. “...small comforts.”

“Small comforts are still comforts, Jackie. C’mon.” Sammy smiled sweetly as Petra held out her hand to help Jack back to his feet.

Their conversation was interrupted by a series of loud thumps outside, followed by screaming. The four looked at each other, before the door burst open - revealing a spindly man with greasy black hair.

“Jess, you’re not gonna believe this!” He gasped, putting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. “I-- We just got back -- but, we just… I… A giant… The…” He took a deep breath, coughing.

“Ivor, slow down. Simple words?”

“I… the… it’s impossible, but… but I heard it in the distance! We heard roaring!”

\--

_ (Sarcastically) Dedicated to Aiden Evergreen. Hope that asshole is literate enough to read. _

Lukas set the quill down, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he felt the cabin rustle - hearing loud thumping and an even louder roar. He stepped outside, gasping as his eyes widened.

A dragon. Obsidian scales, with white markings along its wings. The two locked eyes, the dragon’s bright fuchsia eyes imprinting themselves on Lukas’ mind as it flew away. He shook his head, whistling as a chestnut horse barreled out from behind the cabin, himself hopping onto its back as it galloped behind the dragon.


	11. So It Goes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group faces off against a dragon, and Jess takes a nap.

_“Jess. What is that?”_

Luckily, they had time to prepare. Ivor and Jess rallied the townsfolk, guiding them into the mines while Petra and Radar worked to barricade the mine entrance - the roars growing louder as the dragon grew closer. The four nodded at each other, looking up as the dragon finally made its physical appearance. Its scales glittered in the sun, eyes burning into the group… as the town gate flew open, Lukas riding in with someone else sat behind him on the horse.

“Lukas! Olivia?!” Petra called out as Jess pulled their sword out, taking a step back. The two dismounted, the horse running off to find a safer position as the dragon huffed, soaring into the air. “What are you  _ both  _ doing here?!”

“Considering that big beefin’ lizard came to Redstonia  _ first, _ I think I have plenty reason to be here!” Olivia called back as Lukas whipped out a bow, firing arrows up towards the dragon. “Come on! We gotta help Lukas!”

“Right!” Ivor and Jess replied in unison, Petra climbing up onto the bridge over the street to swipe at the dragon as it shot past. Ivor and Jess pulled out bows, Ivor’s arrows tipped with a brilliant green hue, sparkling in the light as it hit the dragon’s snout.

It roared, eyes turning a sickly green as it stared Ivor down, diving and snapping as Jess dove out of the way. It caught Ivor by the back of his robe, flinging him high into the air. It would’ve eaten him had he not fired an arrow into its eye, causing it to buck and roar as Ivor landed on its back instead.

Jess and Olivia shared a look, Olivia nodding as she built her way along the side of one of the taller buildings, quickly fumbling together a small arrow launcher as she whistled, waving her arms as the dragon quickly flew towards her, getting one of its wings pelted with arrows.

Jess’ mind was racing - No way just the four of them would be able to kill this thing, not this underprepared. This was a test -  _ the _ test. A puzzle.

_ How do you kill something you know you can’t kill, when nobody’s around to help? _

Jess knew the answer. Maybe they were right - maybe the block  _ was  _ too familiar for comfort. But maybe that was the  _ point. _ They slammed the purple block down in the middle of the street, staring the dragon dead-on. The block glowed brighter, shining bright and illuminating the shaded area around it as a lever appeared on the top, glowing a faint cyan.

_ Go on then. Do what’s right. Save your people. _

But why use this? Why now? It’s a last resort. Isn’t it?

_ Do you not feel like your friends’ lives are important? You have to use it now. The Dragon has seen it deployed. It knows what's coming - any delay now, and your friends will die no matter what you do. The Overworld is different from the End. _

Jess shook their head, dispelling any thoughts that weren’t their own… and pulled the lever. The dragon roared furiously, snapping and writhing as it rose into the air, flinging Ivor from its back as it glowed brilliantly, beams stretching in all directions in front of the sun… before exploding with a roar, sending light down all around them.

And there, in the center of the road, right in front of the fountain…

“The Egg.” Ivor said, kneeling down and picking it up - Oddly, he’d only been slightly bruised. “Jess… what…?”

Olivia looked at the Egg, then at Jess… then at the block next to them. Her blood ran cold, the noise deafening in her ears as she lept down, feet skidding on the stone as she bolted ahead, locking eyes with Jess and pointing at the block.

“Jess. What is that?” She asked, quietly. Jess looked away, pretending they didn’t hear.

“I… uh… Hm. No idea where…”

“Jess.”

“It saved the town.”

“It’s a  _ command block. _ ”

“Ellie tried to make one.”

“And…? She never--”

“We have one, undamaged, that just got rid of the Ender Dragon for - what i’m guessing is - the  _ second _ time now. I think we can use this for things that  _ aren’t _ going to screw things up?”

“I…” Olivia folded her arms. “Still. It gives me a bad feeling.”

“Not much justification, huh?”

  
“ _ Enough. _ ” Ivor’s voice was quiet, deathly so. If there were ever a definition for a ‘thousand-yard tone,’ it was him… “Jess. Where did you get that block?”

“Th-the Sea Temple… Petra took me to some guy named Jack, and…” Jess fumbled, recounting the tale as best they could. Ivor paced back and forth, closing his eyes and mumbling.

“This… hm. And I suppose it has something to do with that… thing on your hand?”

Jess looked at their arm. Honestly, they’d forgotten it was there. “...Yeah. The Gauntlet. I found it while adventuring with Petra…”

“So really, we can all say this was Stella’s fault, yeah?” Petra said flatly, hopping down in front of Jess. “If I hadn’t had to go get Lluna out of our mines, you wouldn’t have found that Gauntlet, so we wouldn’t have gone to the Sea Temple, which means the  _ fucking Dragon _ wouldn’t have showed up…”

Jess sighed. “I’m just glad… it’s handled.” They looked at everyone else. Ivor was still pacing - Lukas and Petra were looking concerned, and Olivia… well, she was still nearly foaming with rage. “...We…  _ I _ … I’m going to go to the Order Hall, and I’m going to take a  _ very _ well-deserved nap.” They mumbled, stumbling down the road towards the Order Hall.

_ I suppose a hero does deserve a rest… _

Jess shook their head again, rolling their eyes and opening the door. Petra and Lukas tore down the barricade in front of the mines as Radar and the townsfolk made their way back outside. The city was… remarkably unscathed, though perhaps that wasn’t so surprising once they saw the purple command block in the road.

They sighed, stumbling up the stairs and plummeting into their hot pink blankets, just as quickly passing out. 

When they awoke next, they were in a black expanse, cyan streaks surrounding them in a seemingly infinite space. They took slow steps forward, trying to feel for a door or a wall… yet finding nothing but floor.

“Hello?” Jess called out, voice echoing into the nothingness. “Anyone… there?”

_ “Ah. You’re awake.” _ The familiar voice that’d been in their head since the bubbles echoed around them… or perhaps within them? Jess wasn’t sure. “ _ I’m very excited that you’ve passed the test.” _

“Test? The Dragon thing?”

_ “Of course the Dragon, Jess. It’s a shame that your friends jumped to you parroting your predecessors… but such is the way it is, no?” _ The voice chuckled.  _ “It’s almost time, you know. _ ”

“Time? For what?” Jess tilted their head.

“ _ Time. It’s of the essence, you know. _ ”

Jess saw a flash of light behind them, and turned around - a brilliant glowing figure stood before them, holding out its hand.

“ _ Best to show you directly. _ ”

Jess took a step back. The figure shook its head, waving its arm and sending Jess falling backwards, waking up to find Radar hovering over them, worry in his face.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt your nap… but there’s someone outside looking for you.”


	12. The Clock and the Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess wakes up from their nap and gets sent to a new location, for a test.

_“You see this clock? It goes tick-tock!”_

They rubbed the sleep from their eyes, walking back into the Order Hall. Pacing back and forth was Sammy, looking around. She looked over at Jess, silently motioning for them to follow her.

Jess nodded, following Sammy out of the Order Hall and down the street, to the city gate where the others were gathered. Stood there was a woman in a cloak, grey… scales, sparkling bright. Her eyes were a piercing green, looking directly at Jess, slitted pupils maintaining perfect stillness as she tilted her head.

“She said her name was A’zlia.” Sammy mumbled, stepping away and slinking behind Jack. 

“...Can I help you, Miss… A’zlia?” Jess asked quietly. She laughed.

“Oh, of course you can! You’re a simple hu-Man!” She giggled, skipping around them. “A They! A They! And They will Play!” She stopped, holding her hand out in front of her and blowing into it.

“The skies are dark, I’ve made my mark, and now you play, until it’s day!” She squealed as the group looked up. Sure enough, the sun was obscured by deep black clouds, rumbling with thunder. “Lightning strikes, and you get look-alikes!”

The group all looked at each other as she lifted them - and herself - into the air. They all looked down, seeing Beacontown disappear below them. 

“I’ve made the switch, all with a twitch! Copies below, and only you know!” She sat in front of them as they all continued to float, now moving horizontally. A large clock appeared in her lap, clearly pointing to the moon - which was glitching, both in the sky and on the clock.

“You see this clock? It goes tick-tock! And  _ you’ll _ have to hunt it down, if you want to save the town!” She threw the clock into the air, the group watching it disappear into purple smoke. “Time to play, until the day! The sun will rise, when you open your eyes!”

With that, A’zlia vanished, the group landing on… the clouds, stood in front of a giant wall. It was made of quartz, prismarine and sea lanterns along the top and bottom.

“Second weirdest thing I've done in my life…” Petra mumbled, slowly walking on the soft clouds. They felt uncanny, as if they stood on gusts of wind, but were strong enough to support everyone.

“I didn’t see, who all made it up?” Jess asked, turning around. They saw Jack, Sammy, Petra, Radar, Lukas, and Olivia… “Oh, fun, all of us?”

“Not willingly, I’ll say that much.” Lukas mumbled, trying to not look down. “Screw literally everything about heights.”

“Could be worse.” Jess mumbled, pointing at the gate that cut through the wall. “Come on, through there. I figure the clock’s gonna be  _ inside _ whatever this is…”

The seven of them entered the gates, Lukas immediately falling to his knees at the sight of the grass. “Thank the  _ Dragon _ , some  _ solid ground… _ ”

“Stay on your feet, Lukas - We have no idea what’ll be up here.” Petra said, pulling Lukas back up to his feet.

They found themselves in an ornate courtyard, grass walkways walled by quartz pillars with obsidian bases. A’zlia sat in the center of the courtyard, whistling to herself. She was sat in a fountain, four pillars of water flowing into a square basin as she grinned.

“Welcome to the Tower, please don’t cower! Heights might be scary, but the situation can’t get much more hairy!” She giggled, floating into the air. “Clock’s at the top, but you better not stop! It’s a long way to go, but then you’ll know!”

“Know… what?” Radar asked quietly, looking at her. “Do you  _ always _ talk in rhymes?”

“Well why don’t you? Feeling too blue?” She flipped onto her back, hair swirling around her as if she were underwater. “It’s time to shine, I’m sure you’ll do fine!”

Jess rolled their eyes, pointing ahead, at a large door, made of dark oak wood. The group marched ahead, the door creaking into the wall and opening the way into the tower.

“Don’t mind the critters, please ignore their chitters. You’ll have to shoot for the sky, but I think you know why.” A’zlia called out from the courtyard as they entered the Tower. “Salvation awaits - the Light dictates.”

“Huh?” Petra asked, turning around. “What did you say?”

“You heard me.” She waved her arm, the door slamming shut. “I hear no pleas!”


	13. Rising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group begins to climb the tower.

_"The Light is nice, death comes twice!"_

The interior of the tower was far bigger than the outside had led the group to believe - even the entryway seemed massive, compared to the seven figures grouped in the middle. A’zlia had followed them in, predictably, and was sat on the large chandelier over their heads.

“Worry not, not one thought. It all starts easy, but the stakes may make you queasy!” She chirped. “Losers don’t thrive, they don’t survive! But the Light is nice, death comes twice!”

“Twice?” Lukas asked. “What’s that mean?”

“Get beat down, go back to town! Easy as pie, until you die!” She giggled. “The Light doesn’t kill, not for the cheap thrill!”

Jack immediately stood up. “Then what was--?”   
  


“The Sea Temple? To make you tremble! He doesn’t bring harm, it’s part of the charm!”

“The  _ charm _ ? THE  _ CHARM? _ Glad to know him  _ killing _ my  _ husband _ is ‘part of the charm’ of this damned quest!” He growled, drawing his sword. “Why don’t you come down here and I show you some ‘charm’ of my own, huh!?”

“Show some class, don’t be an ass.” She waved her arm, Jack shuddering as he jerkily put the sword away. “I’m not the Light, I cannot fight. His battles aren’t mine, fight him on your own time.”

Jess looked up at Jack, then at A’zlia. “What was  _ that? _ ”

“You were both Bearers, and those can be terrors, so I have the power, to force you to cower.” Her teeth glittered in the candlelight, hands resting on a lit candle - yet no pain was visible on her face. “Best to hurry; before you  _ really _ need to worry!.”

She giggled, vanishing again. Jack knelt, grumbling to himself as the others looked at each other.

“Climbing the tower doesn’t seem that hard, at least?” Radar reasoned, looking around. “Seems like it’s a…  _ standard _ mob gauntlet, I guess. Go up a floor, kill all the mobs, rinse and repeat until we get to the Clock.”

“That sounds almost…  _ too _ easy though.” Petra looked over at him. “If  _ I _ were a world-altering entity, I’d make something way harder. Mobs  _ and _ puzzles.”

Jess shook, putting a hand on their head.

“Jess…? You good?” Petra asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. When they put their hand down, their pupil in that eye was seemingly  _ entirely _ gone - only the white of their eye remained. “Your eye!” Petra called out, prompting everyone to look.

“I mean, I’d noticed it’d looked different, but that’s… that  _ can’t _ be normal.” Olivia mumbled, looking at Lukas - who nodded in agreement. The others all turned, looking at Jess then at each other.

“ _ Welcome to my Tower.” _ Jess took a bow, smiling politely. “ _ A’zlia told you the rules, yes? _ ”

“If we fail a challenge, we get sent back to town, yeah?” Petra asked. “Hell, isn’t this basically your  _ house _ , Mx. Gauntlet? Tell us who you are.”

“ _ You think the gauntlet is sentient? _ ” Jess laughed.  _ “The gauntlet is merely my communicator, an input for my power and influence over an entity. I’m just… a simple sort, the one who created your world, the one who stoked the initial fires of human life... Surely you hadn’t forgotten the stories of the Admin that the Temple had told?” _

“Father to man and mob alike.” Sammy said, kneeling down. “The Infinite Light.”

“ _ Ah… it’s been so long since I heard myself called that. _ ” Jess sighed wistfully, voice trailing off as their eyes drifted over as Jack pulled himself to his feet. The lighting combined with the angle of his head made it look like he had no eyes, his fists balled so hard his knuckles were turning white.

“You.” Jack tilted his head up slightly, locking eyes with Jess. “You  _ really _ wanna use Jess as a shield? What, scared we’ll be too  _ strong _ for you? Too afraid to try and take us all on?”

“ _ Such ‘powerful’ words. _ ” Jess smirked, hand reaching out. Their fingers curled into Jack’s thick, wavy hair, lifting him up. “ _ You know if I showed up in my true form here, you’d all just end up like your friends. _ ”

Jack thrashed, yelling. “Don’t patronize me! You’re the one that wanted to show your face to  _ me _ of  _ ALL PEOPLE! _ ”

“ _ Look at Sammy. _ ” They said, dropping Jack. “ _ You know I haven’t killed anybody, right. _ ”

“Haven’t killed anybody?  _ Haven’t killed anybody? _

“ _ I said what I said. _ ” Jess shrugged. “ _ I don’t need you to believe me. _ ”

“What about Vos?! ...What about  _ Nurm!? _ ” Jack yelled, drawing his sword. Jess waved their arm, Sammy flinging herself between Jess and Jack.

“ _ I’d think carefully about your next move, Jack. _ ” Jess said slowly. “ _ One false move, and I can fling your friend over your blade. You wouldn’t want to be responsible for its death, would you? _ ”

Jack faltered for a moment, before putting his sword away. Sammy stepped aside as Jack shoved Jess, knocking them onto their back. Jess shook their head, looking around in confusion as Jack suddenly stopped.

“Jack?” Jess asked, quietly. “What happened? What did I do?”   
  


“...Nothing. Let’s just start climbing this thing.” Jack waved his hand, making his way to the stairs. The others followed close behind, all of them making their way up… finally.

The second floor was oddly quiet, the group on high alert as they looked around. Eyes peered at them from the walls - purple eyes, with a faint glow to them; their bodies blending into the walls.

“Eyes to the floor.” Lukas said softly. “Those look like Enderman eyes.”

“ _ Invisible _ Endermen? Now I’ve seen everything…” Olivia muttered, looking down with everyone else as they crept across the way. “W-Wait…”

“There’s no stairs.” Radar squeaked, looking at the walls. The eyes followed him, ominously narrowing as they heard the clicking of spider legs on the ground. “A-And… there’s spiders?”

“Worse than just spiders-- Everyone scatter!” Petra yelled, the group running in different directions as the walls sprang to life, revealing void black creatures. Their top halves were endermen - the lanky arms and purple eyes proved that easy enough. Their bottom halves, where their legs would be, were long, terrifying spider legs, clicking against the floor as they skittered around, moving faster than normal spiders as purple wisps trailed behind them.

“En… end- spid..-Spinders?” Jess mumbled, raising their sword as they came closer, circling the group. Petra stood, back to back with Jess, looking over her shoulder and nodding.

“Everyone else duck. Jess, when I say the word,  _ spin _ .” 

“S-Spin!?” Jess asked as everyone hit the deck, crawling out of the circle of Spinders. “I.. okay…”

The two braced themselves, locking their free arms together at the elbow and nodding at each other, holding their swords out.

“SPIN MOVE!” they yelled in unison, running in a circle around each other. “WARRIORRRRR…  **WHIRLWIIIIIINDD!!!!!!** ” The two yelled, slashing through the spinders so quickly that only string and ender pearls littered the floor.

“..String and ender pearls, huh?” Petra asked, kneeling down as she caught her breath, picking up some of the loot. “Odd that the Admin would keep their combined loot together.”

“What’s next? Zombies that drop feathers?” Jess joked, looking up. The ceiling had a hole in the middle, revealing the floor above. They looked at the ender pearls and string, then over at the group. “Hang on… Pets. Throw a pearl through that hole.”

“Up there?” She raised an eyebrow, looking at Jess as she threw the pearl through the hole, teleporting away as it donked on the other side. She poked an arm through the hole, giving a thumbs-up before pulling her arm back up, looking around as the others threw pearls up to join her.


	14. Kinetic Flashbacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next floor yields interesting pieces of the groups pasts.

_“The Light knows all, it’s seen your minds… entwines your fates, with no rewinds!”_

The group ascended into the next floor, crowding around in a small room. The floor rumbled, the hole to the previous floor closing as walls ascended in a cross pattern, splitting the seven of them into four groups. 

Behind each group, the wall slid away, revealing four different rooms for each group. A’zlia appeared, sitting where the four rooms came to a single point.

“Seven people, in four teams! Three with two, to view your dreams!” She giggled, juggling multiple colored balls of light. “Solo team gets a treat! A unique adventure, your own feats!”

“The Light knows all, it’s seen your minds… entwines your fates, with no rewinds!”

She floated up into the air, vanishing in a puff of smoke as the four groups entered their respective rooms.

**[[TEAM A]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23708776/chapters/62891437) [[TEAM B]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23708776/chapters/62893669) [[TEAM C]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23708776/chapters/62905666)**


	15. Kinetic Flashbacks, Team A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess and Petra's kinetic flashbacks, told from Petra's perspective.

_“Maybe I just want a chance to pretend we could’ve both been saved!”_

We found ourselves in a cave, water dripping in the distance as Jess stuck close behind me, pressing us against the wall.

_ “...You don’t wanna get a reputation as a wimp.” _

_ “This… isn’t my first time in a cave, Petra.” _

I looked at Jess; they made a face and looked back at me. That definitely  _ sounded _ like us - Jess, before they’d even started growing their hair out - hell, before they’d started training their voice… and, of course, me.

“I remember this… you’d shown me that wither skull.” Jess mumbled as we snuck away from ourselves. They didn’t even notice us as we made our way to the other side of the cave, hands on the ladder as we saw the sky - well, fake sky - swirl above us.

  
“This is more Admin nonsense. That much we  _ know. _ But how much does he know about… us?” I asked as we made our way to the top of the ladder, the scene changing to the bridge. Like it was back then, we were surrounded by mobs, and our only options were to fight… Or to jump.

_ “Let’s jump.” _ both Jesses said at once, taking my hand as we jumped, our past selves jumping from the opposite side. We stared at each other on the way down, myself maneuvering to be closer to Jess before we hit the water.

And this time, they didn’t bellyflop. We ended up tangled into each others limbs as we hit the water, our bodies sinking and spinning as we ended up on top of a burning tree, water hissing off of our backs as we fell onto the dirt, scrambling into the temple.

_ “Hurry! Inside the temple!” _ I heard Gabriel’s voice from outside, bringing Jess inside. They grabbed my arm, looking at me.

“We gotta find a way out of here, Pets - last time we were in here, you…”

“I know. I nearly got sucked into the Witherstorm.” I looked away. Not exactly a memory I wanted to remember… “But maybe I can make things right.”

“How??” Jess looked at me, raising an eyebrow. “I-- past me--  _ Jesse? _ Whatever. I could only save you by sacrificing Gabriel…”

_ “If anything happens, I’ll meet you guys at the temple-- _ ”

_ “Y-You two! H-Help!” _

The two of them - past me and Gabriel - found ourselves in the tractor beams of the Witherstorm, past Jess sprinting towards past me...

“Past you will grab past me… so what if I grab Gabriel?”

“This is the  _ past _ , Petra - and the past you literally said was the Admin’s fake tricks to be a fakey fake faker. How the hell do you flip between being completely aware of this and completely  _ un _ aware??”

What the hell? Maybe… “Maybe I just want a chance to pretend we could’ve both been saved!” I folded my arms. “So often you’d pick  _ me _ over anyone else, and so often I’d find myself thanking you only for whoever you left to _ die _ to be stuck in some awful hell fate! Gabriel went mad with Wither Sickness, I nearly  _ died _ from it, and Lukas almost fell to his death because you wanted to have  _ me _ by your side instead of  _ anybody else! _ And of course  _ nooow _ that you run Beacontown, you-- You don’t have time for me! The one you almost fucking  _ killed  _ people over just to have by  _ your _ side!” I yelled, shoving Jess out of the way and sprinting, reaching to grab Gabriel’s leg…

Only to be caught in the tractor beam, completely phasing through him as I ascended, Jess screaming as they tried to jump for me.

“PETRA!!!”

“JESS!!!”

The last thing I saw was Jess falling to their knees, reaching out desperately but unable to stand up, much less jump high enough to reach me.

_ Such a shame, who’s to blame? Petra’s gone, and won’t respawn! _


	16. Kinetic Flashbacks, Team B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lukas and Radar's kinetic flashbacks.

_"Ellegaard Rose… the mom I’d never known."_

Lukas grabbed my hand as the lights shifted around us, the scene building itself as we stepped closer.

Ellegaard… She was in someone’s arms - someone I didn’t recognize, but Lukas did - with someone else being held by Axel.

“Oh, man… I guess this floor pries from our memories to come up with… ways to mess with us.” Lukas mumbled, kneeling down in front of the scene. I couldn’t find words, kneeling next to him.

All I had heard from this moment… I remember my dad walking into my room one night, sitting down with me and telling me… she was gone. Ellegaard Rose… the mom I’d never known. Not well, at least. Dad had always said she went back to Redstonia when I was a little kid, not old enough to remember her very well. Guess it was for the best…

Lukas put an arm around me… was he crying?

_ “You and I… both know… my fight is over.” _ She said slowly, voice hoarse as she took slow, rattly breaths.

_ “Stuff and nonsense… Stuff and nonsense.”  _ The other guy said, tears already welling up in his eyes. Why would he lie to someone who meant so much to him? Why… Why lie to Ellegaard?

“Soren… Soren was never good at facing the music.” Lukas chuckled softly. I looked over at him.

“What was… what was she like? Do you remember at all?”

“Crazy smart. Olivia said she wasn’t the nicest person at first, but the two warmed up to each other pretty quickly. You should’ve seen them talk about new ways to optimize circuits in the downtime. They could’ve talked for… gosh, hours.”

“But no mention of anything beyond that, huh.”

“No, not usually. If we got anything out of her that wasn’t related to redstone or the Witherstorm, it was usually her yelling about Magnus…” Lukas sighed, pulling me closer. I looked at him in confusion, only to be met with a pitying smile.

“What?” I asked, maybe a bit more defensively than I’d meant to.

  
“You were hoping she’d talked about her family, huh.” He chuckled, ruffling my hair. “If we’d known you were her kid when you became Jess’s intern, I think you’d have earned Olivia’s adoration way sooner.”

_ “It really suits you… Jess… keep it. I want you.. To keep it.” _

_ “But this armor belongs to you…” _

I looked over at Lukas. “They used to sound like that, huh?”

“They didn’t really start focusing on their appearance until after we’d gotten back from Sky City. Sure, they’d figured out their name n’ pronouns, but hadn’t really gotten anything past that until we found the portal hallway.”

_ “A-At least I… f-finally got to be a real hero… r-right?” _ She looked over, eyes widening as she saw people slowly leaving the mass of obsidian and debris behind Lukas and I.  _ “Oh, wow…” _

_ “They’re all… still alive. The Witherstorm didn’t kill them!” _

_ “Jess…”  _ She coughed.  _ “Those people… all of them. You have to help them.” _

Jess took her hand, pressing it to their chest.  _ “Not without you. I don’t leave anyone behind.” _

_ “Jess…”  _ She took one last breath, the sound rattling through her.  _ “Jess… promise me you’ll… keep them all safe.” _

_ “I will. I will…” _

She jerked back slightly, all too quickly going limp as her eyes rolled back and she slumped into Soren’s arms, her hand hitting the ground. The others phased through us and gathered around her, faces carved into looks of deep grief.

My… everything felt heavy. My body, my heart… my  _ soul _ . Lukas looked down at me, holding me close as tears fell.

“I’m here for you, kid.” He said softly. Almost like dad.  _ Almost.  _ We sat there for what felt like an eternity, Lukas holding me like he’d always been my big brother...

We stood up, Lukas helping me stay upright as the scenery morphed around us. The somber sunset gave way to dark night, the moon barely illuminating the scenery.

_ “Where did you GO!?” _ We heard a loud voice from behind us.  _ “Nia Juniper, if you don’t… rrgh!” _

I froze. Lukas looked at me. I couldn’t do anything. He could.

“ _ Nia… You know if you don’t come down from whichever tree you’re hiding in then Stella’s gonna have both of our heads.” _ He pleaded. We heard rustling nearby.

_ “You know she doesn’t treat us right! She can barely remember my name! She doesn’t even care about you - you’re just a llama babysitter!” _

Long hair dangled from a tree, a bespectacled head peeking from leaves.  _ “Dad, come on. We should just go. _ ”

“...Is that…?” Lukas gave me a look as I nodded quietly.

“I didn’t bother cutting my hair until I moved to Beacontown. Dad wouldn’t have cared, but Stella was kind of adamant I style my hair like hers… so I did it just loose enough it’d come down naturally when I got home.”

_ “You know I would love to, but we can’t… We still owe Stella so much, and--” _

_ “You only owe Stella because you blew her chances of having Ellegaard’s redstone genius  _ **_BEFORE_ ** _ her death! She used my stupid internship as leverage and that’s why we’re both stuck here! When we could just run away!”  _ My past self yelped as he fell from the tree, jumping upright as dad loomed over him.  _ “Can you really blame me…” _

He paused, looking right at Lukas and I before taking a deep breath, holding his hand towards past-me.  _ “Nia… you know someday I’d love to get us out of this mess. Move to Redstonia like we’d always planned… even without your mother, I’ve heard that the new leader… she’s doing good things.” _

_ “Then why can’t we go?” _ He pleaded. 

_ “Because you’re still only seventeen. Your internship ends next year; when it’s over I hope you’ll take some time to explore the world. You never know what you’ll find.” _

I laughed, both now and in the past. “It was only a couple years ago. I stopped being Stella’s intern not long after my birthday; traveled a bit and finally saw Boomtown and Redstonia for myself before deciding… I wanted to be close to dad. He wouldn’t quit his own job, so I want to be there as often as I can be.”

“Is that why you moved to Beacontown?” Lukas asked; I nodded. “It’s a good reason; keeping close to home without diving back into what made it so awful.”

“Maybe when this is done, I’ll go home and pay him a visit. It’s been a few months, haha.” I laughed, “He’ll enjoy the visit, I’m sure!”

Lukas grinning, nodding as past-me and Dad walked through us… with past-me on Dad’s shoulders. It filled me with nostalgia, in a weird way.

We walked forward, Lukas grabbing me by the hood to stop me from suddenly falling from the edge of a walkway. We found ourselves high in the air, fog obscuring the depths below.

Lukas turned around, letting go of me as I stood on the floor, staring at the hole in the wall… and down towards the woman dangling from the block I was standing on. People were fighting behind me - I turned to look as I heard a loud crunch. 

Jess - but from the past - had someone else in armor on the floor, clutching his mouth as they ran towards me, only for the kid to stand up and spring-kick him in the back.

All too suddenly, the full force of them and their armor hit me in the back, launching me forward as I fell into the void with them and the woman from before. Lukas poked his head over the edge, a look of horror on his face.

_ Radar falls, and fate calls. Does it make you cry, knowing Lukas didn’t try? _


	17. Kinetic Flashbacks, Team C

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Sammy's kinetic flashback.

_“…Admin history?” A faint smile flickered across his face. “I… suppose I might be the one to know about that.”_

Sammy and I found ourselves inside a Woodland Mansion - one I recognized. The Eynori’s home; not far from the swamps of the Shifted Gruntildian, the beautiful and belligerent witch.

Sammy looked at me. I looked at Sammy.

“Why would the tower give us this?” She asked, putting a hand on her chin and looking around. I looked around as well, folding my arms.

“Good question. I assume that the whole ‘The Light knows all, it’s seen your minds…’ thing the fish lady said is part of it.” I said, looking at her. She shrugged.

“I guess. Maybe we should go inside the mansion!” She looked at me with a grin. I rolled my eyes, following her inside.

Inside, two younger versions of us stood; on either side of Sammy stood myself, and… Vos. Our old friend. He lowered his hood, glittering silver hair tumbling over his shoulders as he shot past-me a smirk. Past-Sammy rolled her eyes, nudging the two of them to proceed. Predictably, the present Sammy and myself followed close behind them, Sammy looking at me in confusion as I phased through various illagers; while she simply walked around them.

“You know you can go around them, right?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, but if we phase through them then it’s easier to stick close to our past selves. I’m guessing that’s what we need to do.” I shrugged. She jogged ahead, avoiding the illagers as I caught up with her, watching our past selves sneak through them.

“I don’t know what to make of this place - it all seems to function not unlike a village but… contained entirely in this mansion?” Vos looked around, placing a hand on his chin in thought.

“That’s how most illager clans operate. The original one in a clan builds a big mansion, and eventually villagers turn, or are born into the clan, or are taken and forcibly inducted. That’s what the outposts are for; you know how many of the Cymonis clan were just wandering traders that were in the wrong place at the wrong time?” Past-Sammy pulled her brown hair back into a ponytail as I looked at present-Sammy. Her hair was… black?

“What? I can’t dye my hair?” She mumbled.

“...You were in captivity for 40 years.” I shook my head. “I don’t think the Admin would let you dye your hair if you were stuck in an obsidian box for that long.”

She gave me a strange look, pressing herself against a pillar. I pressed myself against one opposite her as our past selves ducked to the side, one of the illagers marching down the hallway.

“Who’s that??” I mumbled, looking at present-Sammy, who rolled her eyes.

“That’s the Eynori’s strongest Vindicator… you know, your husband?” She snarked. I sighed softly, shaking my head.

“Was my husband.” I corrected. She growled something under her breath, glaring at me as he stopped, pulling past-me from where he was hiding.

“Why are you hiding?” I translated as he growled in past-me’s face. Past-Sammy darted out, shouting something in the same language.

“We’re not harmful! We’re explorers! Ex-plor-ers!”  She yelled, waving her arms and speaking slowly. He squinted, leaning down and putting past-me down as he locked eyes with past-Sammy. Admittedly, it was a bit hilarious seeing her squaring up to someone so much taller than her…

Past-Nurm glared, before laughing and ruffling her hair.

"It's so silly when humans bring their spawns into their raids… Human spawn are so silly and frail."

"I'm an adult!!!" She grumbled. "Geez…"

Present-Sammy looked at me, shaking her head. “Cannot believe that he thought I was a kid.”

“I mean, you haven’t aged since you were at least 18.” I replied, rolling my eyes. A woman ran up behind past-Nurm, tapping his shoulder and saying something I couldn’t understand before gesturing towards where he’d come from. He shrugged, pointing at the past-us group and replying.

She brandished her axe, the handle alone the size of her entire torso as the iron blade reflected the torch light. She pointed at us and barked some kind of order at him, and he glared at her. She raised her voice, raising her axe and swinging at us – only for past-Nurm to pull his own axes out, disarming the woman before turning around and pointing over our past selves heads.

“Out, that way!” He barked. Sammy and I turned around, watching as our past selves sprinted through us and into the… void? Huh.

Everything wobbled around us, shifting like sand as we found ourselves in a dusty, cobweb-filled building. Sammy pushed a lever, the lights turning on around us… How was she able to interact with what was supposed to be the past? She put a finger to her lips as our past selves walked through our present selves, past-Sammy placing her hand firmly on the desk in the corner of the room. To the right of the desk, a man busily scrawled using a small chunk of concrete against a dark green board.

“…I’m afraid I cannot help you.” He said flatly, not looking behind him as he drew a line. “Class is long over; your late work should have been dealt—“

“We’re not students!” past-Sammy said angrily. “You’re the one teacher here who knows anything of Admin history!”

“…Admin history?” A faint smile flickered across his face. “I… suppose I might be the one to know about that.” He turned around, hands gripping the rail under the board. “But, why should I help you? I’ve got piles upon piles of curriculum and homework and essays to handle and grade – do you honestly think I’ll have time to juggle this on top of the work of several dozen half-matured spawns?”

“You sure care about your students.” Past-Sammy rolled her eyes, hopping onto the desk. He lept from the board, batting her away.

“Nobody sits on the desk!” He barked. “Please, I’ll have to clean the whole thing all over again, and—“

“…Mr. Phlox, was it?” past-me raised a hand and tilted his head. “If… if you could…”

“If you’d stop worrying about your damn desk for a minute, we do have something that needs your help.” Past-Sammy shrugged, getting back onto her feet.

“This is when…” I looked at present-Sammy.

“When we first asked Soren about that gauntlet.” She nodded. Sure enough, he’d focused on past-me’s arm, grabbing his hand.

“I—Oh goodness. I haven’t seen…”

“We were exploring with our frrrr—colleague, Vos, and found it after defeating a giant redstone spider.”

“Hm. I remember a story like that – the Mecharachnach, a challenge created by the Admin to test old heroes – potential champions.” Soren put a hand to his chin, dropping past-me’s arm as he began to pace. “Interesting, how the Mecharachnach managed to seemingly reassemble itself in the span of twenty ye—cycles.”

“You fought it?” past-Sammy asked, incredulously. “Man, Vos had me climb inside the dang thing!”

“Myself and my… old, friends…?” He hesitated, strangely. “My old… Whatever. What they were isn’t what they are now. We had discovered it ourselves, and I found myself in possession of that same gauntlet.”

“But Mr. Ph—“ Past-me mumbled, being cut off by Soren’s hand waving dismissively.

“Just. Just call me Soren.” He shook his head. “It’s pronounced ‘flox’, anyway.”

Present-Sammy looked at me, snickering. “Quiet, aren’t’cha?” Her voice was different. More gruff, as if she were forcing her voice to be deeper than it was naturally. It… wasn’t something she usually did. “Jackie, tell me – you know how this story ends, don’t you?”

“This story?” I raised an eyebrow. She scoffed, glaring – her eyes, I hadn’t noticed before, were glowing a faint light blue. Something was wrong… but if I said anything, neither of us might have left that box. “After we visited Soren…”

Sammy clapped, the world rippling around us – but instead of going to a different memory, it simply… jumped ahead in the current one. “You know what he told you—us.”

“I was the first Bearer of that gauntlet, you know. It’s very recent, in terms of games the Admin has played…” Soren sighed, pressing a finger against the bridge of his nose. “Truthfully, outside of the gaze of the Order, I used to speak with and commune with the Admin quite often… until he decided I was no longer worth his time – that I wasn’t the answer to retrieving what he had ‘lost.’”

Sammy sighed scornfully, fingers curling as her nails dug into the palms of her hands. “You really are like him, you know.” She closed her eyes, clapping her hands again as the world shifted. We found ourselves in the Sea Temple, cornered by the Colossi and the Guardians. “Do you know what happens here?”

“Vos dies…?” I squinted, glaring at her. “Right?”

“He hasn’t killed anyone.” She laughed, looking right at me and grabbing my chin. “In fact… I haven’t killed anyone.”

I ripped myself away from her, springing back as a Guardian beam shot through me, turning Vos to inventory – how strange, hearing my own horrified scream from behind me. “You--!! You’re… The whole time?”

“Well, not the entire time Sammy knew you and Vos, no… but this is what I mean with you being just like him.” She – he? – shrugged, tilting his head as he grew, glowing as he assumed his true form. “You’re oblivious to a fault. I gave you such an obvious tell… and you still falsely clung to the hope that maybe I was your long-dead-but-actually-just-missing friend.”

“Th…then…” My fists balled. “THEN WHERE ARE THEY?!” I yelled.

He stepped closer, leaning over me ominously. I threw a punch, hitting him square in the chest… but he simply grabbed my hand before I could throw another one.

“You know, I was perfectly willing to allow you to wallow in your own shock and doubts. My grand reveal, to the person who’s annoyed me the most…” He lifted me by the wrists, pupil-less eyes staring through me as he smiled. “You were the one who couldn’t catch on – who refused to. Nobody would believe you! I, Sammy, the Admin? Hah. The others wouldn’t believe it.”

“Put. Me. Down.” I growled.

“Okay.” He grinned, dropping me.

I didn’t hit the ground.


	18. Could Be Worse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess, Olivia, Lukas, and Sammy all make it to the tower's highest point.

_“How long.” Jess stepped forward, fists balling. “How long have you been with us.”_

The remaining four found themselves on top of the tower, overlooking the courtyard below.

“Oh! What a sight to see, the four given victory!” A’zlia chirped, predictably appearing in front of them and hovering in midair. “Well, truthfully it’s three, because one of you will always fly free.”

Sammy stepped forward, and A’zlia’s eyes widened, gills frilling outward in surprise. “A-Ah--!”

“A’zlia. Stay quiet.” Her voice was completely different – more gruff, deeper than it was before. “As for the rest of you…”

“You…” Olivia stepped toward Sammy, only for her to wave her arm. Olivia gasped, vanishing into cyan smoke.

“Me. Anyone else care to state the obvious?” She lifted her arms to her sides, glowing as she grew in height, form changing.

He quite suddenly had a flat chest, with dark gray-blue skin. Bright cyan hair flowed behind him, pure white eyes emotionless as the rest of his face had a smugness to it. “After all, we already know the truth.”

“How long.” Jess stepped forward, fists balling. “How long have you been with us.”

“Oh, not very long. Only… oh, three days?” He chuckled, adjusting his tie as the markings on his suit glowed softly. “It’s funny, really – I’m almost ashamed of Jack’s obliviousness on his behalf. But… I suppose that’s okay.” He snickered, “I’ve already taken care of that little issue.”

“Is that what happened to Petra—“

“—and Radar?” Lukas and Jess shared a look as realization dawned on their faces. The Admin laughed, twirling as he flew into the air.

“Ohhh,  _ now _ you get it! You understaaand!” He rolled onto his stomach, grinning menacingly as his fingers curled around his face. “Though really, I’m quite surprised it took you  _ this  _ long to catch on - especially you, Jess.”

“Why me?” Jess raised an eyebrow. The Admin sighed, closing his eyes with a low growl.

“Oh… you are just playing dumb now. You were the one who claimed the gauntlet for yourself, when  _ I  _ had chosen Petra. You were the one who saw my dreams - who succeeded in my test and killed… well,  _ deleted _ , Freja. You know, that dragon you used that Command Block on?” He laughed. “Come on, Jess. You know, don’t you? Even though you so gleefully tried to force yourself into being the apple of my eye, the star I wished upon… I always get what I want.  _ My _ champions are always  _ mine. _ And they are  _ my _ decisions.” He snapped his fingers, and the gauntlet vanished from Jess’ arm. “Not yours.”

“I didn’t exactly  _ wanna  _ be your champion, you freak!” Jess glared. “I just didn’t want your stupid gauntlet possessing my friend!”

“Hm. No… that’s not it.” The Admin put a hand on his chin, rolling so he was cross-legged in the air. “If I remember… you were torn between staying by Lluna’s side, or saving your friend. Had you acted a second later, Petra would have been the next Bearer. Alas… unlike Soren, unlike Jack… you are a touch faster than the friends you make.”

“Hold on.” Lukas interrupted. “If Petra was supposed to be your champion, why the heck did you take Radar -- and Jack?”

The Admin laughed, shrugging. “Well, that’s easy. Radar reminded me of myself at a more… naive time. As for Jack… well. He simply got in my way, just like his friends all those years ago.”

“And as for us?” Lukas tilted his head. “I feel like you’re not gonna just. Let us go home.”

“Oh, on the contrary, little Lukas.” He grinned, lifting an arm up and raising Lukas into the air. “Do you want to go home? To forget this little adventure? Or, perhaps...” His other arm moved in a flash, throwing Jess against the wall and making them vanish with dark blue smoke. “You’ll take it upon yourself to save the person you used to love?”

“But what’s there to save if you don’t kill anyone? If they’re alive, they’ll make it out of whatever you’re putting them. We’ve escaped entire alternate worlds before; I think some stupid god’s prison is gonna be a snap for them.”

The Admin laughed hard, rolling his eyes as he leaned his face dangerously close to Lukas’ face. “Then you’ll have just as easy of a time getting out, then.”

\--

_ They laid on the ground, the wet grass soaking their clothes as their eyes refused to open. Slowly, they shuffled closer to each other, fingers intertwining as they felt themselves being lifted by their collars. _

_ “Take them inside.” They heard a woman’s voice say. Her voice had the same accent as the Admin’s, but rather than a gruff tone, her voice was softer and more stern. “We’ll register them - we have special orders for the long-haired one, after all.” _

_ The grinding of metal rang loud behind them, followed by rhythmic stomping as they were carried off. The thing carrying them - a golem? - knelt down, their hands coming apart as one of them was set down gracefully. _

_ The other, of course, was carried off into a different part of the facility, and was set down on a bed. _


	19. This Perfect Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess wakes up.

_ “Hello!” The entire group said in unison, waving their hands as they all turned around.  _

“Gooood  _ morning, _ to all Residents and Servants!” Jess was awoken by a loud, accented voice echoing from seemingly everywhere. “It’s 10, so everybody who isn’t already up has to get up! Stretch those muscles! Don’t get sad when there’s so much to do!” He laughed. “Of course, every morning starts by announcing newcomers and departures. No departures as usual - though there have been attempts! Hahah.” He cleared his throat, and Jess stumbled out of the building they had found themselves in, sitting on the stairs leading into the courtyard. In the center was a giant tree, and everyone was gathered around it, with the loud voice from before sitting on top of the tree. He, like many of the people closest to the tree, were wearing light grey suits, bright sky blue trim across their torsos.

“What’s going on…?” Jess mumbled quietly, making their way down the stairs.

“And as for newcomers… We have a new Resident  _ and _ a new Servant!” He chirped. A hushed whispering rippled throughout the crowd. “I know, it’s a surprise to be sure - with most of you, you have to work hard to curry favor with the Resort Head, but this one… ah, they were a special request from The Admin himself to make this one a Servant.”

He put one hand to his lapel, the other hand raising a finger and lifting his arm upward as Jess began to float. “Everyone, say hello!”   
  


“Hello!” The entire group said in unison, waving their hands as they all turned around. Jess gulped, shivering. Creepy.

In the crowd, Jess spotted Lukas, wearing a turquoise jumpsuit. His goggles and jacket were gone, and his skin looked… oddly gray. His pupils, once black, were now a lighter gray. “L-Lukas!”

“Ah… of course, they’re a  _ new _ Servant.” The man in the tree said, putting Jess down. “They don’t know that every Resident here is referred to by their number. Keeps things simple, you see - if two residents share a name, it’s much easier to call them by their numbers so there’s no confusion.”

“I.. okay.” Jess shrugged. The people in the crowd dispersed as the man in the tree jumped down, landing effortlessly on the ground. “And you are…?”

“The name’s Romeo!” He sprang upright, slicking his hair back with a big grin. “I’m in charge of training new Servants and making sure they can fulfill their assigned roles. As for you… You’re the greenhorn among us, so naaaaturally, I have to help you learn the ropes! It’s a painless process, really - it’s more showing you how to activate your powers while in the Resort--”

“Resort? Is that what this is?” Jess asked, interrupting him. Romeo blinked, tilting his head slightly.

“...Yes? My, you really are new to this.” Romeo shook his head. “No matter! You’re standing in the central courtyard of the Moonbeam Resort; where the Admin sends people that… eh, irritate him. However, he thinks everyone has a shot at redemption! So instead of some boring prison or some no-nonsense array of cells… it’s a resort, where Residents - those jumpsuit-wearing fellows that wander around here - can do what they want, so long as they’re actively working to better themselves. Then, once the Admin deems them ready, he personally releases them back into the world. Easy to understand, right?”

Jess nodded slowly. “I… I guess? The Residents are here to ‘get better,’ and then they can go home.”

“Precisely!” Romeo nodded. “Like I said - this is painless.” He put a hand on his lapel again. “Now, to use your Servant abilities… you need only put your hand on your suspenders. Normal residents such as myself or my partner, we have to put a hand to our lapels, but your Source was installed right on your suspenders.”

“Handy…?” They put a hand on their suspender, a small ball of light appearing in their hand. “Wh?”

“Throw the ball.” Romeo grinned. Jess complied, and the ball exploded into a shower of light as it hit the tree’s leaves. “You learn quickly!!”

“So… where are my fri--?” Jess took a surprised step back as Romeo’s finger hit their lips.

“Aahh-bap-bap-bap-ba,  _ shush. _ Befriending Residents is a  _ huge _ no-no, so when your companions were processed, we took the liberty of making them forget--”

“You MADE THEM  _ FORGET ABOUT ME?! _ ”

“Let me finish! They’ve merely forgotten about your friendship; and it’s  _ temporary. _ Once they’re ready to return, the Admin will gladly allow them to re-remember your friendship.”

Jess sighed. “Great. So they won’t remember what I’ve done for them.”

“Well, why would you say it like that? Surely they’ve done things for you as well?” Romeo looked confused, meandering towards one of the side doors - Jess following close behind him. “While we were processing that 3120 boy, my partner was quick to note just how fidgety he was - and he responded by saying that he was worried about you. You tend to lash out--”

“I do not!” Jess snapped. “Lukas was probably just worried because he needs his hand held whenever he’s afraid otherwise he gets all panicky!”

“Case in  _ point. _ ” Romeo sighed. “Here. Allow me to give you a  _ brief _ tour… if you’d like one.”

“Please. If I’m gonna be here a while, I might as well know what’s what.” Jess rolled their eyes as Romeo began to point things out.

“That lime room is the lounge - not much more than chairs and tables, but a place for Residents to converse amongst themselves. Social interactions, we’ve found, help benefit Residents in their healing journeys. That -” he pointed at a yellow room across the way. “- over  _ there _ is the library. Some residents enjoy reading - and one of The Admin’s human friends was kind enough to donate nearly his entire library of work to our library.” He pointed in front of them. “That blue room is the entryway, where newcomers are processed… and departures are logged.”

“Departures?”

“Oh, the usual. Escapees, sneaks, the…  _ occasional _ legitimate departure.” Romeo shrugged. “Residents are allowed to walk out whenever they please, but they usually only attempt it once.”

“What happens when they do it again?”

“Oh, they don’t.” Romeo turned around, pointing. “That red room… you won’t be going in there for a while.”

“Why not?”   
  


“Beyond there is the… well. It’s where the  _ real _ troublemakers go. Nasty things are on the other side of that door… and every Servant has a chance of being on patrol there. Every week, we draw straws - Shortest two get Patrol duty, and we have to report to Redd.”

“Redd?”

“The head of the guards in there. Used to be the Resort Head… if you believe the rumours.” He shrugged. “Not like I know. The only Resort Head I know of is our girl Sonar - and she’s the best of the best. That’s how she came to be the Resort Head.”

Romeo quite suddenly placed a firm hand on Jess’ back, making them jump in surprise. “ _ That _ , however, should do it for now. You’ll start receiving assignments in a few days… if things go according to plan.”

“According to plan?” Jess asked.

Romeo shook his head. “You’re new. Sometimes the greenhorn Servants don’t… really make the cut right off the bat. Worst-case, you’d get knocked down to Resident status for another few months. It’s all about how you behave.”

Jess shook their head softly as Romeo nodded reassuringly, leaving them to wander around. 


	20. I Know My Place, Do You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess tries to reason with their friends.

_“...The Nodes.” Jack said softly. “But that makes them--!”_

The first place Jess looked at was the library. Sure enough, Lukas was there, quietly reading.

“Hm? Oh, you-- Jess, right? The new Servant?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. Jess quietly sat across from him, pulling a book from the shelf with the subtlety of a brick. “...And not very good at trying to blend in.”

“I’m still learning the ropes, apparently.” Jess rolled their eyes, looking at the cover.  _ DON’T FORGET  _ was embossed into it, lettered in a brilliant yellow. Opening the cover, they read the words on the page.

_ DON’T FORGET _

_ By Soren Phlox _

_ Dedicated TO those HELPed me through researching. _

Huh. Strange dedication… Jess shook their head, closing the book and shrugging. Lukas gave them a look.

“Decided not to read?” He asked. They shook their head.

“Book didn’t seem interesting.” They replied, “You… do you… I dunno…”

Lukas shrugged. “Maybe I do. What’s there to be done?”

“Remembering. You remember me? I guess?”

“I mean… there isn't much to remember. You’re just a person who saved the world and then ruined everything. And because you’re a bad person, but somehow better than the rest of us, the Admin made you a Servant.”

“Bad… bad person!?” Jess scoffed. “Please. I did so much for everyone it’s not even  _ funny. _ Fuck, you’d still be stuck to Aiden if it weren’t for me calling on you to help us get Ivor.”

“Is it all about you, though?” Lukas put the book down, sitting up and placing his hands in his lap.

“I-- I… yeah? Kind of? You’d still be stuck with the Blaze Rods, Petra’d still be a cave-dwelling loner, Ivor would’ve caused the end of the world by now… Olivia and Axel wouldn’t even be the leaders of their towns if it weren’t for me.”

“Yeah. ‘Cause killing their idols was absolutely something you should have caused.” He shrugged. “But hey, I’m not you. I’m not breaking my poor little back to make sure everybody’s happy.”

“I didn’t kill them!” Jess protested, sighing. “The  _ Witherstorm _ did. You remember  _ that _ , don’t you?”

“Oh, of course I do - you actually accepted Ellegaard’s armor, and then  _ insisted _ that Axel find some way to squeeze into Magnus’ armor. It’s what Magnus would’ve wanted right? For Axel to wear the griefer’s armor? Magnus wanted to  _ die _ so that Axel could feel a little better about himself?”

“Shut UP!” Jess shot to their feet, throwing the book across the room. It hit the wall with a thunk, falling to the ground. “I didn’t ask for your opinion!”

“You never asked for anyone’s opinions. They all just went with what you wanted to do because they were too afraid to say no. Maybe that’s something  _ good _ the Admin’s done for me - While I’m here? I don’t have to be afraid of  _ you. _ ”

“I. You never had to be.” Jess said, though… deep down, a pit was growing in their stomach. They really had no reason to be upset… right? They were just… doing everything the way they thought would be the best. Was that wrong of them? To want the best for everyone?

They sighed, picking the book up and pocketing it as they left the library, walking across the courtyard to the lounge, flopping down helplessly into a chair and covering their head with the book.

They didn’t wanna exist for a while, truthfully - The last thing they needed to hear after all of this was their best friend tearing into them. They figured they’d deserved it - maybe that was what made Lukas break it off?

They squeezed themselves onto the edge of the chair as they felt the air shift around them as someone else attempted to sit next to them. They felt a hand on their shoulder, and looked up to find a familiar face smiling at them.

“Overwhelmed?” Jack asked softly, tilting his head slightly. Jess shook their head.

“Don’t look at me.” Jess mumbled in response, “I don’t wanna be here.”

“Hey, I was like that my first day here. You wake up, you’re in a jumpsuit, you don’t know what’s going on and can’t make heads or tails of it? It happens to the best of us.” He chuckled. “Luckily, I had my lovely 0224 by my side - he helped me figure things out! ...Man, and here I thought he was gone forever.”

“Nurm. You mean  _ Nurm. _ ”

“Do I?” Jack shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m 0225, and he’s 0224. Seems easy to remember to me.”

“You’re Jack!” Jess threw their hands into the air. “J-A-C-K!”

“And? That might be my name, but that’s not my  _ number. _ ”

“I-- whatever.” Jess sighed. “Have you just been… here the whole time??”

“Well, yeah. I mean, it’s not like you can leave - someone tried last night when you first got here and got sent right to the Nodes.”

“The… Nodes?”

“Oh, you know.” Jack waved his hand dismissively. “Where the impossible ones go.”

“But doesn’t the Admin think everyone--”

“Look, all the Residents know that’s a load of garbage if you get sent to the Nodes. It’s rumored the Admin sends the worst of the  _ worst _ there - you know, the ones who  _ can’t  _ be fixed.” Jack looked around, leaning down to whisper. “Heck, I’ve heard even  _ Servants _ can get sent down there, and  _ not _ for patrol.”

“...But you’ve never seen it.”

“And that’s a good thing! You think I  _ want _ to get sent to the Nodes?!” Jack put his hands on his cheeks. “Sheesh, you really have a low opinion of the Residents,  _ especially _ for a newcom--”

Jess grabbed Jack’s wrist, pulling him to eye level with them. “Jack. You know what’s going on. I  _ know _ you do. Nurm came back into your life, and now you’re trying to keep at least  _ this _ together.”

“...What makes you say that?” Jack hissed. “Maybe I just like being reunited with the love of my life? Maybe we’re  _ happy  _ learning we can fix ourselves for the Admin. You ever think of  _ that, _ kid?”

“You need to listen to me.”

“No I don’t.” Jack pulled his hand away from Jess’ grip, glaring.

“I need all of you by my side if we’re gonna get out of here--!”

“MAYBE WE DON’T  _ HAVE  _ TO LEAVE!” Jack roared. “Have you considered that maybe,  _ juuust _ maybe, we  _ WANT _ to be here?”

“No you don’t! That’s the Admin’s… The Admin’s lying! Hasn’t he hurt you enough? What about Sammy? What about Vos?!”

“What about them?!” Jack slammed his hand on the table. “They’re alive, aren’t they?!”

“But are they  _ here? _ ” Jess swung their arms out. “They’re not in  _ any _ of these rooms, and  _ you _ would be a lot more upset if they were the ones who tried to escape.”

Jack blinked slowly. “They’re… not here?”

“...Seriously?!” Jess groaned. “You saw Nurm and immediately forgot about literally the entire other half of your group?  _ Your _ friends?! If they’re not here, Jack, then where are they? Where would Sammy and Vos be - the  _ real _ Sammy, by the way - if they’re not here in the main area.”

“...The Nodes.” Jack said softly. “But that makes them--!”

  
“Still your friends! Are you really gonna let the Admin trick you into thinking that they’re worthless just because they made him angry enough to get chucked into those Nodes? Or are you gonna  _ do something _ about it and  _ get them out?! _ Get  _ all _ of us out of this stupid Resort?!”

Nurm gave Jack a questioning look - Jack’s face was scrunched, deep in thought. “...I… I guess you might be right.”

“Then help me get Lukas. Nurm… if he wants to, he can join us.”

Nurm nodded affirmatively, Jack looked at Jess, and the three left the lounge.


	21. Follow My Lead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess attempts to get through to Lukas, and plan their next move.

_"Is there a problem, 3120?"_

Lukas was not as easy to convince as the others had hoped. Truthfully, Jess wasn’t even sure they had convinced Jack and Nurm, but their reactions in the lounge seemed to prove that they had done  _ something  _ right, at least.

“Are you sure you wanna go through with this, Jess?” Lukas had his back against the shelves, hands up as he was surrounded by the others. “I mean, if this goes wrong, we’re all stuck in the Nodes, and you’ve  _ once again  _ screwed everything up.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“Did me taking the Amulet from you while we were in the End not prove that??”

“That was  _ years _ ago! What about in Sky City, what about in that mansion, or with PAMA, or--??”

“You made me fall off the edge and break my arm! You nearly got me killed because of things I didn’t do, you let me get chipped and then  _ didn’t unchip me _ , and YOU LET ME GET SENT TO THE QUARTZ MINES!”

“I didn’t have a choice--”

“YOU DID! YOU FUCKING DID!” Lukas screamed. “And in EVERY choice you had, YOU CHOSE SOMEONE ELSE! I mean, fuck, I bet if it were me and Reuben there in the Witherstorm’s core, YOU WOULD HAVE LET REUBEN LIVE.”

That struck a chord with Jess. Did he…  _ really _ bring Reuben into this? Of all the times… “You listen to me.” Jess growled. “You do  _ not _ get to use  _ my _ pet as leverage for what  _ you _ had to go through. Petra had combat experience, knowledge of how to get out of sticky situations.”

“And I didn’t?!”

“ _ You _ had a book you wouldn’t shut up about.”

Lukas’ hands clamped around Jess’ shoulders, spinning them around and slamming them against the bookshelf. “Gee, SORRY I WANTED TO--”

“Is there a problem, 3120?” A woman’s voice interrupted their fighting. Lukas slowly turned around, revealing a woman leaning in the doorway. She had wine red hair, with a pink streak of hair covering the right side of her face. “Romeo heard you getting loud and thought to send me in to check up on you guys.”

“Th-th…” Lukas put Jess down, sighing. “There’s no issue, Xara. Not… not at all.”

“Good.” She said sweetly. “I wouldn’t want to have to send you off so soon after your arrival, you know!”

As quickly as she appeared, she touched her lapel and vanished again. Lukas sighed, placing a defeated hand on Jess’ shoulder.

“I don’t think Petra or Radar made it with us.” He looked out the window, the center courtyard in full view. “As far as I know, it’s just you, me, Jack, and Nurm.”

Jess nodded. “Yeah, I’ve only seen you three so far. I’m  _ pretty _ sure there’s two more in the Nodes or wherever that we can get on our side… but that still leaves Petra and Radar unaccounted for.”

“Well, where else would they be if not here?” Jack raised an eyebrow. “I mean… you’d think that the Admin would send us all here…”

“Well, that’s not entirely true.” Lukas put a hand on his chin. “I mean, they had vanished with Jack, but the Admin said something different about Radar - and, if he was to be believed before sending us all here, Petra was going to be his champion anyway… whatever that means.”

“It means that he took them both with him.” Jess said softly.

“So what’s our plan?” Jack asked. The three sat down next to the shelves, sat close together to speak in hushed voices.

“It seems like, first things first, is getting ourselves sent to the Nodes - but how?” Jess replied, “If that Xara lady was anything to go by, it seems that if you attack a Servant… that alone is grounds to get sent away.”

“But what then? We don’t know anything about the Nodes.”

“I know… something, kind of?” Jess closed their eyes in thought. “Romeo said something about there being a drawing, and the loser has to report to some ‘Redd’ guy to patrol the Nodes.”

“So… with you being a Servant…” Jack grinned. “I think I know our plan now. We wait for you to get assigned to the Nodes, then when you get there, we cause something to get sent down there…”

“Then we grab Sammy and Vos, then break out… any means necessary.” Jess nodded.

“Makes sense.” Lukas shrugged. “How long do you think it’ll take?”

“Romeo said I wouldn’t be assigned Nodes for ‘a while’, but how long that is… who knows?” Jess sighed softly. “I don’t know.”

“Hey, we’ve got this.” Lukas nodded.

“...Do we. Do  _ I? _ ” Jess softly gripped at their hair. “After... I dunno. I just don’t. I always think I do, but you’re  _ right. _ I’ve been…”

“Jess.” Lukas’ voice was firm, a hand on their shoulder. “We don’t need to worry about that right now. You’re going to be okay.”

“I’m not.” Jess’ voice was… oddly quiet.

“You will be, though.” Jack nodded. “Sure, you’re going through a lot right now - I mean, you’re single-handedly keeping three people from completely ignoring you. But you can reflect on what you’ve done later, when we’re done saving our friends.”

“Our friends.” Lukas smiled. “Who, contrary to what the other Servants think, are  _ your _ friends too.”

Jess nodded. Slowly at first, but gaining confidence as they stood up and put a hand on their chest. “Then let’s make this work.”


	22. Learning the Ropes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess learns the ins and outs of being a Moonbeam Servant.

“Well, for one, how the hell did you end up here?”

They didn’t see each other for the rest of the morning - or for most of the afternoon. Once they had left the library, they had split up - Easier to lay low if they’re not constantly near each other.

This, unfortunately, left Jess alone to witness how things operated in realtime. Well, they _thought_ it unfortunate, but most of their mental energy was spent furiously absorbing every shred of information they received. How Residents operate, what Servants do what and where…

They heard a loud noise behind them - an argument between two Residents, and then the sound of Servants sprinting to break up the fight. Jess decided to follow the two Servants; off to the side as the two held the two Residents apart.

“Heeey-hey-hey-hey.” One of them said quietly, lifting his Resident by his arms. “You don’t wanna go back to the Nodes again, do you?”

The other Servant saw Jess lurking, and motioned for them to come a little closer. “You’ll wanna watch this, new guy.”

  
“They.”

“New they. Whatever - this is how you break up a fight with the… less eager Rezzies.” He lifted his Resident up, wincing as he was continuously kicked in the knees. “Nope. You’re not gettin’ dropped til you calm down.”

The other Resident growled, ducking his head down and biting the Servant’s fingers. The Servant yelped, unintentionally dropping the Resident. Immediately, he landed on his feet and headbutted the other one, the Servants groaning as they pried the Residents apart again.

“Why not lift them up like that Romeo guy did to me this morning?” Jess asked quietly as the Servant dragged his Resident out of the room, blood trickling from his hand. “...Especially if he broke skin, _ew._ ”

“Ehh, it’s not good practice for Rezzies. They might vomit, then you gotta get your suit washed, and the spares never fit…” the Servant mumbled, shaking his head. “‘Sides, 0413’s a whackadoodle who just. Eats whatever he damn well pleases.”

“And your fingers are looking _delicious_ right now, punk! Drop me!”

“You wanna go back to dealing with your stupid twin, you freak!?” The Servant barked, wrapping one arm around the Resident’s stomach, carrying him under his arm. “Can’t bite fingers you can’t reach.”

“Ohhhh that’s what you’d _like_ to think, huh!” the Resident hissed. “You watch out, when my time back down in those damn Nodes is up, Redd’s gonna be missing his damn ears!”

The Servant sighed. “Well, that’s going to just be Redd’s problem.” He touched his lapel, the Resident’s jumpsuit color changing as he groaned indignantly. “Don’t whine, 0413, you brought it upon yourself.”

“I’m going to--”

“Bite me? Again?”

“Don’t finish my sentences!!!!”

Jess watched as the Servant carried the Resident off, the Servant touching the iron door and walking… through it?

“Oh, yeah, those doors don’t open.” the other Servant said, letting his Resident go and wiping his hands on his stomach. “If you’re sending someone to the Nodes or you’re doing patrol, you just touch the door and… walk through.”

“...Huh. Do fights happen a lot?” Jess asked, "3120 tried to attack me earlier, and with those two…”

“Eh,... not really. Usually the worst offenders are the Node ‘frequent fliers.’ That funky little man that the other Servant carried off? He’s the brother of the head of the Node Guard. I don’t know why that makes him think he’s gonna always get a free pass to jump to and from the Nodes whenever he wants but… well, if anyone starts a fight it’s usually him.”

“Uh… _huh._ ”

“Oh, I should ask - did Romeo give you the full rundown of what you can do with your powers?” The Servant laughed. “He’s a sweetheart for sure, but he’s not the best at explaining everything in _detail_ , yknow? Here… hm. I think I know.”

“Eh?”

“C’mon. I’ll point out one of the other frequent fliers and we can use him to show you how to use your powers.”

“Alright…?” Jess raised an eyebrow as the Servant led them up the stairs into the Resident quarters, opening the door and leading them onto the upper walkway. “So… what’s the plan?”

“Hah. _watch._ ” the Servant grinned, crouching down. “See that girl over there? The big one?”

Jess nodded, ducking behind him. “Uh… yeah? I think I knew her, actually…”

“Hm. Wonder what she did to piss off the Admin, then.” He chuckled. “Anyway… put a hand on your Source, and think up… I dunno, some kind of weapon?” His voice dropped to a low whisper, peppered with chuckling.

Jess shook their head, wrapping a hand around their suspenders and concentrating on the image of.. A sword. A simple, easy, stone sword.

“Hey, 0108.” The Servant said, motioning for Jess to step aside. “You’ve got something on your side.”

“I--wh?” She moved her arm, gasping as the Servant reached over and pulled the sword out. “I-- I don’t--”

“Don’t know how it got there? Of course you don’t.” He chuckled. “You been bribing the Servants again? You know weapons are against the rules.”

“I didn’t have this sword a minute ago!” She protested. “Come on, I’ve been good - don’t fuckin’ send me back to the Nodes ‘cause you thought it was funny to plant a damn sword on me!”

“Hm…” He put a hand on his chin. “Well. Jess, did you pay attention? What do _you_ think happened?”

“I think…” Jess bit their lip. “I think you’re being kind of a dick.”

The girl and the Servant’s eyes both widened. The Servant leaned down, looming over Jess. “I’m _what?_ ”

“Being a dick.” Jess put their hands on their hips, leaning forward. “0108 didn’t _do_ anything, _you’re_ making me set her up to be your punching bag.”

“Wait… Did you say _Jess??_ ” The Resident raised her hand, pointing. Jess nodded, pointing at themself.

“Look, you two shouldn’t even be _friends!_ I oughta tell Xara and Romeo what’s been going on.”

“Oh like _they’re_ going to care! Have you seen how often they’re next to each other, or in front of each other, or facing each other, or--”

“0108, that’s enough.” The Servant rolled his eyes.

“Shut your mouth,” The Resident balled her fist. “Before I knock your teeth out again.”

“Do that and Jess will _actually_ have reason to-- MMNFH!”

He was promptly interrupted by the Resident launching her fist forward, clocking the Servant right in the jaw and knocking him to the ground.

  
“Dragon’s _breath_ , Em…” Jess mumbled, nudging the Servant with their shoe. “You knocked him out cold.”

“Yeah, and they’ll be sending others out to launch me into the Nodes any minute now - anything you wanna ask before they lock me up again?”

  
“Well, for one, how the hell did _you_ end up here?”

“Well, you go off on your own adventure, you find some artifacts, you decide you wanna use one of ‘em as a training dummy… Turns out, guy who it was made for has the ego of a bottle of Elegant after a high-speed meeting with the wall.”

“Maybe I can… uh, save them the trouble??” Jess shrugged, placing a hand on their suspender again. They focused, and Em’s jumpsuit went from the dark turquoise of the normal Resident suits, to a deep red color - and as Em turned around, a large “X” was visible on her back, with “NL1” underneath it.

“Ugh… this is gonna suck.” Em sighed. “I guess it could be worse… hopefully you end up with patrol soon - not that I’d wish it on even my worst _real_ enemy.”

Jess shrugged. “Maybe when the opportunity presents itself,” They replied as Xara barreled into the area, lifting Em up effortlessly.  
  


“Make way-- huh?” She looked up. “Oh. You already put her in the other jumpsuit… did _you_ wanna take her to the Nodes?”

Jess shrugged. “I may as well; I could do with the experience of being in there just in case I get pulled.”

Xara nodded, setting Em back down as Jess took her hand, leading her down and towards the red room. Like they’d seen before, they touched their hand to the iron door, and then closed their eyes as they walked through it, Em close behind them. In the center of the room was a red platform, which Jess and Em both stood on.

“Then I guess I just…”

“I dunno, they touch the flappy things on their suits and suddenly we’re in the Nodes.” Em shrugged, Jess wrapping their free hand on their suspender and closing their eyes.

When they opened their eyes, they were on a Nether brick platform, over an ocean of lava as they walked slowly across the narrow platform, Jess and Em walking through another iron door. At least these walkways were covered with glass…

Jess looked around, before taking slow steps towards the iron door across the hallway.

“Not one step further.” A voice said behind them, sighing indignantly. “Oh, great, a _new_ Servant. One who isn’t used to the Nodes yet.” He sighed, pulling Em to his side as he lifted Jess off of the stairs. “ _That_ door is to stay closed.”

“Why?” Jess asked. Em’s face screamed ‘you should not have asked that,’ but the man holding the two of them simply rolled his… eye.

“Because beyond that door is someone _truly_ , wholly irredeemable. The _definition_ of a ‘bad apple.’” He pointed to the right, and Em walked into one of the larger domes. “You’ll learn more about the Nodes once you finally pull a patrol, but - I’m Redd. This is my own personal hell.”

“Jess. I’m new.”

“I can tell. Go back topside.” He pointed towards the exit. “Don’t come back unless you get pulled for patrol.”

Jess shrugged. “Fine by me,” They said, walking out and back out to the platform. They got a better view of the Nodes - four spheres, each split in half if the inside of the building was to be believed.

And, oddly, a larger sphere in the middle, separate from the others but with a hallway leading back to where Jess and Em once were.

As Jess teleported back to the Resort, an idea brewed in their mind, and once the lights were out, and the four of them were able to regroup by torchlight, Jess told them their plan.

They sat around the tree in the courtyard, a book in Jess’ lap as they held a quill between their teeth. Lukas leaned back against the trunk, while Jack and Nurm sat on branches.

“So, once I get patrol… you three cause enough of a ruckus to get sent down after me, and then… distract Redd and whoever else might get patrol, so that I can sneak into that center ball and see what might be back there.”

“And what makes you think that whatever’s back there won’t immediately try to kill you?” Lukas raised an eyebrow. “Kind of a running theme with you - You learn of some bizarre new concept, and then it’s either a hack fraud or is trying to kill you.”

“Well, I think whatever’s behind that door would like to be free, at least for a little bit.” Jess shrugged. “I mean, think about it, it had to do _something_ pretty heinous to get locked back there, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, but we don’t know _what._ As far as we know, it could still be bloodthirsty and ready to kill any of _us,_ especially anyone who happened to be dressed like a Servant?” Lukas rolled his eyes. “Seriously, Jess - if we’re risking our asses for this, _you’re_ taking the risk. I’m tired of being almost killed - or worse, _actually literally killed_ \- because you screwed up.” 

“That said,” Jack interrupted. “Let’s assume that whatever’s back there isn’t going to kill us _and_ wants out of there. What’s our plan for getting out _with_ this thing?”

“Well…” Jess blinked. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

“I’m sure we will.” Lukas said sarcastically. “Didn’t you say that when you became the hero-in-residence of Beacontown?”

“N-no!” Jess protested. “Don’t even start, Lukas!”

Lukas laughed , “Hey, I was only kidding!”

They heard a door open behind them, and Jess stood up, pointing. “Alright, 0225 and 3120, get to bed.”

“What about 0224?” Jack asked.

“Him too!” Jess barked. The three of them sulked off to the Resident quarters, while Jess walked up to the Servant quarters.

“What was that all about, huh?” one of the Servants asked as Jess walked into the room. “Entertainin’ the rezzies?”

“Pshh, no.” Jess rolled their eyes. “Needed to tell them off for something they’d done earlier - 3120 slammed me against the wall and, well, he’s new. Don’t wanna Node someone who’s only had their first day here.”

“Hmph. Fair enough. Don’t let Xara hear you say that though - she’s _crazy_ when it comes to letting folks off the hook for things, _especially_ when it comes to Rezzies. She’ll think you’re gettin’ friendly and then _you’ll_ end up in the Node Guard.” The Servant laughed. “As for up here.. Well, pick a bed, fall in it, wait til Romeo starts screamin’. That’s how we do things.”

“Better than nothing…” Jess mumbled, suddenly finding themselves rather tired as they flopped onto one of the beds, not even pulling the blanket over them before they fell asleep.


End file.
